List of ethnic groups in Ethiopia

For the national origin group of Ethiopia, see Ethiopians.

This is a list of ethnic groups in Ethiopia that are officially recognized by the government. It is a list taken from the 2007 Ethiopian National Census: Population size and percentage of Ethiopia's total population according to the 1994 and 2007 censuses follows each entry.

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups. Most people in Ethiopia speak Afro-Asiatic languages, mainly of the Cushitic and Semitic branches. The former includes the Oromo and Somali, and the latter includes the Amhara and Tigray. Together these four groups make up three-quarters of the population.

The country also has Omotic ethnic groups who speak Afro-Asiatic languages of the Omotic branch. They inhabit the southern regions of the country, particularly the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region. Among these are the Welayta and Gamo.

Groups from the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan group, especially Nilotic ethnic groups also inhabit the southwestern regions of the country, particularly in the Gambela Region. Among these are the Nuer and Anuak who are also found in South Sudan which borders the Gambela Region. However, according to Glottolog, many of those comprise small language families or isolates, such as Surmic languages Kwegu, Me'en, and Suri, and the isolate Bertan.

Ethnic Groups in Ethiopian Censuses


Ethnic group	Linguistic grouping	Census 1994		Census 2007
Ethnic group	Linguistic grouping	Number	%	Number	%
Aari	Omotic	155,002	0.29	290,453	0.39
Afar	Cushitic	979,367	1.84	1,276,374	1.73
Agaw-Awi	Cushitic	397,491	0.75	631,565	0.85
Silt'e	Semitic	939,457		1,135,306	1.27
Agaw-Hamyra	Cushitic	158,231	0.30	267,851	0.36
Alaba	Cushitic	125,900	0.24	233,299	0.32
Amhara	Semitic	16,007,933	30.13	19,870,651	26.89
Anuak	Nilotic	45,665	0.09	85,909	0.12
Arbore	Afro-Asiatic	6,559	0.01	6,840	0.01
Argobba	Afro-Asiatic	62,831	0.12	140,134	0.19
Bacha (Kwego)	Nilo-Saharan			2,632	< 0.01
Basketo	Afro-Asiatic	51,097	0.10	78,284	0.11
Bench	Omotic	173,123	0.33	353,526	0.48
Berta	Nilo-Saharan			183,259	0.25
Bodi	Nilo-Saharan	4,686	0.01	6,994	0.01
Brayle	????			5,002	0.01
Burji	Afro-Asiatic	46,565	0.09	71,871	0.10
Bena	Niger-Congo			27,022	0.04
Beta Israel	Semitic	2,321	<0.01
Chara	Afro-Asiatic	6,984	0.01	13,210	0.02
Daasanach	Afro-Asiatic	32,099	0.06	48,067	0.07
Dawro	Omotic	331,483	0.62	543,148	0.74
Debase/ Gawwada	Afro-Asiatic	33,971	0.06	68,600	0.09
Dirashe	Afro-Asiatic			30,081	0.04
Dime	Afro-Asiatic	6,197	0.01	891	<0.01
Dizi	Afro-Asiatic	21,894	0.04	36,380	0.05
Donga	Nilo-Saharan			35,166	0.05
Fedashe	????	7,323	0.01	3,448	< 0.01
Gamo	Omotic	719,847	1.35	1,107,163	1.50
Gebato	????	75	<0.01	1,502	< 0.01
Gedeo	Cushitic	639,905	1.20	986,977	1.34
Gedicho	????			5,483	0.01
Gidole	Afro-Asiatic	54,354	0.10	41,100	0.06
Goffa	Omotic	241,530	0.45	363,009	0.49
Gumuz	Nilo-Saharan	121,487	0.23	159,418	0.22
Gurage	Semitic	4,290,274	4.31	1,867,377	2.53
Hadiya	Cushitic	927,933	1.75	1,284,373	1.74
Hamar	Afro-Asiatic	42,466	0.08	46,532	0.06
Harari	Semitic	21,757	0.04	31,869	0.04
Irob	Afro-Asiatic			33,372	0.05
Kafficho	Omotic	599,188	1.13	870,213	1.18
Kambaata	Cushitic	499,825	0.94	630,236	0.85
kebena	Afro-Asiatic	35,072	0.07	52,712	0.07
Konta	Afro-Asiatic			83,607	0.11
Komo	Nilo-Saharan	1,526	<0.01	7,795	0.01
Konso	Cushitic	153,419	0.29	250,430	0.34
Koore	Afro-Asiatic	107,595	0.20	156,983	0.21
Kontoma	Afro-Asiatic		0.4	48,543	0.05
Kunama	Nilo-Saharan	2,007	<0.01	4,860	0.01
Karo	Afro-Asiatic			1,464	< 0.01
Kusumie	????			7,470	0.01
Kwegu	Nilo-Saharan			4,407	0.01
Male	Afro-Asiatic	46,458	0.09	98,114	0.13
Mao	Afro-Asiatic	16,236	0.03	43,535	0.06
Mareqo	Afro-Asiatic	38,096	0.07	64,381	0.09
Mashola	Afro-Asiatic			10,458	0.01
Mere people	????			14,298	0.02
Me'en	Nilo-Saharan	52,815	0.10	151,489	0.20
Messengo	????	15,341	0.03	10,964	0.01
Majangir	Nilo-Saharan			21,959	0.03
Mossiye	Afro-Asiatic	9,207	0.02	19,698	0.03
Murle	Nilo-Saharan			1,469	< 0.01
Mursi	Nilo-Saharan	3,258	0.01	7,500	0.01
Nao	Afro-Asiatic	4,005	0.01	9,829	0.01
Nuer	Nilotic	64,534	0.12	147,672	0.20
Nyangatom	Nilotic	14,201	0.03	25,252	0.03
Oromo	Cushitic	17,080,318	31.15	24,489,024	33.49
Oyda	Afro-Asiatic	14,075	0.03	45,149	0.06
Qechem	????	2,740	0.01	2,585	< 0.01
Qewama	????	141	<0.01	298	< 0.01
She	Afro-Asiatic	13,290	0.03	320	< 0.01
Shekecho	Afro-Asiatic	53,897	0.10	77,678	0.11
Sheko	Afro-Asiatic	23,785	0.04	37,573	0.05
Shinasha	Afro-Asiatic	32,698	0.06	52,637	0.07
Shita/Upo	Nilo-Saharan	307	<0.01	1,602	< 0.01
Sidama	Cushitic	1,842,314	3.47	2,966,474	4.01
Somali	Cushitic	4,185,266	6.5	6,581,794	8.21
Surma	Nilo-Saharan	19,632	0.04	27,886	0.04
Tigrayans	Semitic	3,284,568	6.18	4,483,892	6.07
Tembaro	Afro-Asiatic	86,510	0.16	480,573	0.13
Tsamai	Afro-Asiatic	9,702	0.02	20,046	0.03
Welayta	Omotic	1,269,216	2.39	1,707,079	2.31
Werji	Afro-Asiatic	20,536	0.04	13,232	0.02
Yem	Afro-Asiatic	165,184	0.31	160,447	0.22
Zeyese	Afro-Asiatic	10,842	0.02	17,884	0.02
Zelmam	Nilo-Saharan			2,704	< 0.01
Other/unknown		155,972	0.29	178,799	0.24
Somali				20,227	0.03
Sudanese		2,035	<0.01	10,333	0.01
Eritrean		61,857	0.12	9,736	0.01
Kenyan		134	<0.01	77	<0.01
Djiboutian		367	<0.01	733	<0.01
Other foreigners				15,550	0.02
Total		53,132,276		73,750,932

Estimates

The World Factbook estimates the ethnic groups of Ethiopia in 2022 as follows

2022 est.
Ethnic Group	%
Oromo	35.8
Amhara	24.1
Somali	7.2
Tigray	5.7
Sidama	4.1
Guragie	2.6
Welaita	2.3
Afar	2.2
Silte	1.3
Kefficho	1.2
other	13.5

References

2007 Ethiopian census, first draft Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (accessed 6 May 2009)
"Population and Housing Census 2007 – National Statistical" (PDF). Ethiopian Statistics Agency. 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
United nations Demographic Yearbook Special Census Topics. Volume 2b Table 4
"Ethiopian Census First Draft" (PDF). Central Statistics Agency. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 165
Ulrich Braukamper 2012: 189
"Ethiopia", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-08-27, retrieved 2024-09-07

Ethnic groups in Ethiopia

Afro-Asiatic

Cushitic	Afar Agaw Arbore Awi Daasanach Danta Gabra Gedeo Hadiya Irob Kambaata Konso Oromo Qemant Saho Sidama Somalis Tsamai Weyto
Semitic	Amhara Argobba Beta Israel Beta Abraham Falash Mura Gurage Soddo Gurage people Chebo people Harari Silt'e Wolane Tigrayan Werji Zay
Omotic	Aari Banna Basketo Bench Chara Dawro Dizi Dorze Gamo Gofa Hamar Konta Koore Maale Shinasha Wolaitans Yemsa Zayse

Nilo-Saharan

Immigrants and expatriates

v t e Immigration to Ethiopia
African Americans Armenians Chinese Greeks Italians Jamaicans

v t e Habesha peoples
	Amhara Gurage Tigrayan Zay Tegaru-Tigrinya People of Ethiopia People of Eritrea
Multi-ethnic civic nationalism Ethiopian nationalism Eritrean nationalism

Habesha peoples