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Demographics of Zambia
Population pyramid of Zambia in 2020
Population	19,642,123 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	2.9% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	34.86 births/1,000 population
Death rate	6.12 deaths/1,000 population
Life expectancy	66.26 years
• male	64.52 years
• female	68.06 years
Fertility rate	4.56 children
Infant mortality rate	37.11 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	0.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Sex ratio
Total	1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Zambian

Demographic features of the population of Zambia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others aspects of the population.

Ethnic groups

Zambia is one of the most highly urbanised countries in sub-Saharan Africa with 44% of the population concentrated in a few urban areas along the major transport corridors, while rural areas are sparsely populated. Zambia's population comprises more than 72 Bantu-speaking ethnic groups. Some ethnic groups are small, and only two have enough people to constitute at least 10% of the population. The majority of Zambians are subsistence farmers, but the country is also fairly urbanised, with 42% of the population being city residents. The predominant religion is a blend of traditional beliefs and Christianity.

Immigrants, mostly British or South African, as well as some white Zambian citizens (about 40,000), live mainly in Lusaka and in the Copperbelt in northern Zambia, where they are either employed in mines, financial and related activities or retired. Zambia also has a small but economically important Asian population, most of whom are Indians or Chinese.

2010 census

Groups	Percentage
African	99.2%
Bemba	21%
Tonga	13.6%
Chewa	7.4%
Lozi	5.7%
Nsenga	5.3%
Tumbuka	4.4%
Ngoni	4%
Lala	3.1%
Kaonde	2.9%
Namwanga	2.8%
Lunda (North-western)	2.6%
Mambwe	2.5%
Luvale	2.2%
Lamba	2.1%
Ushi	1.9%
Lenje	1.6%
Bisa	1.6%
Mbunda	1.2%
Other	13.8%
Unspecified	0.4%

Source:

Population

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population of Zambia is 19,473,125 in 2021, compared to only 2,340,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 46.4%, 50.6% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1969	4,056,955	—
1980	5,661,801	+39.6%
1990	7,383,097	+30.4%
2000	9,855,591	+33.5%
2010	13,092,666	+32.8%
2022	19,693,423	+50.4%
Source:

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	2 340 000	44.9	52.3	2.7
1955	2 653 000	44.7	52.7	2.6
1960	3 045 000	44.9	52.6	2.5
1965	3 537 000	45.2	52.2	2.6
1970	4 139 000	46.4	50.9	2.7
1975	4 900 000	47.0	50.3	2.7
1980	5 775 000	47.3	49.9	2.8
1985	6 785 000	46.6	50.6	2.8
1990	7 860 000	45.8	51.4	2.8
1995	8 919 000	45.3	51.8	2.9
2000	10 202 000	45.3	51.8	2.9
2005	11 462 000	45.9	51.0	3.0
2010	13 089 000	46.4	50.6	3.1
2018	17,351,708

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data based on the 2010 Population Census.):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	8 852 174	9 033 248	17 885 422	100
0–4	1 579 231	1 554 009	3 133 240	17.52
5–9	1 357 442	1 343 776	2 701 218	15.10
10–14	1 160 256	1 154 409	2 314 665	12.94
15–19	958 687	954 923	1 913 610	10.70
20–24	833 604	851 421	1 685 025	9.42
25–29	693 050	727 248	1 420 298	7.94
30–34	496 336	579 946	1 076 282	6.02
35–39	433 030	493 825	926 855	5.18
40–44	361 566	362 160	723 726	4.05
45–49	298 359	283 452	581 811	3.25
50–54	205 799	193 301	399 100	2.23
55–59	153 109	160 905	314 014	1.76
60–64	109 330	123 190	232 520	1.30
65-69	72 624	79 062	151 686	0.85
70-74	54 288	68 013	122 301	0.68
75-79	35 056	44 637	79 693	0.45
80+	50 407	58 971	109 378	0.61
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	4 096 929	4 052 194	8 149 123	45.56
15–64	4 542 870	4 730 371	9 273 241	51.85
65+	212 375	250 683	463 058	2.59

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Zambia not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	2 318	113	46	67	48.6	19.7	28.8	6.62	135.9	45.12
1951	2 385	116	47	69	48.6	19.7	28.9	6.64	134.9	45.28
1952	2 454	119	48	72	48.7	19.4	29.2	6.68	132.9	45.68
1953	2 525	123	48	75	48.8	19.1	29.7	6.72	130.8	46.14
1954	2 600	127	49	78	48.9	18.9	30.1	6.76	128.9	46.53
1955	2 677	132	50	82	49.1	18.6	30.5	6.82	126.9	46.95
1956	2 758	136	51	85	49.3	18.4	30.9	6.87	124.8	47.37
1957	2 843	141	52	89	49.4	18.1	31.3	6.93	122.8	47.75
1958	2 931	146	52	93	49.6	17.8	31.8	6.99	120.8	48.23
1959	3 023	151	53	98	49.8	17.5	32.3	7.06	118.8	48.65
1960	3 119	156	54	102	49.9	17.3	32.6	7.12	116.9	49.04
1961	3 219	161	55	106	50.0	17.0	33.0	7.17	115.1	49.45
1962	3 323	167	56	111	50.1	16.8	33.3	7.21	113.6	49.79
1963	3 431	172	57	115	50.0	16.6	33.5	7.25	112.1	50.13
1964	3 543	177	59	118	50.0	16.7	33.3	7.27	111.7	49.85
1965	3 658	183	59	123	49.9	16.2	33.6	7.29	110.2	50.56
1966	3 778	188	61	127	49.7	16.1	33.6	7.30	109.7	50.68
1967	3 901	194	63	131	49.7	16.0	33.6	7.32	109.4	50.80
1968	4 029	200	64	136	49.7	16.0	33.7	7.33	108.8	50.86
1969	4 159	207	66	141	49.7	15.8	33.9	7.35	107.7	51.15
1970	4 282	214	67	147	49.8	15.5	34.2	7.37	106.0	51.49
1971	4 400	219	67	152	49.7	15.2	34.5	7.38	103.6	52.02
1972	4 524	225	67	158	49.6	14.8	34.9	7.39	100.8	52.63
1973	4 653	231	67	164	49.5	14.3	35.2	7.39	97.9	53.30
1974	4 789	237	67	170	49.3	13.9	35.3	7.38	95.5	53.87
1975	4 931	244	68	177	49.3	13.7	35.7	7.39	93.7	54.24
1976	5 080	250	69	182	49.1	13.4	35.7	7.37	92.8	54.60
1977	5 233	257	70	187	48.9	13.4	35.5	7.33	92.7	54.71
1978	5 391	263	72	190	48.6	13.4	35.2	7.29	93.0	54.61
1979	5 553	269	75	194	48.2	13.4	34.8	7.23	93.3	54.44
1980	5 720	273	78	196	47.6	13.5	34.1	7.15	93.8	54.14
1981	5 897	282	80	202	47.7	13.5	34.1	7.10	94.1	54.05
1982	6 091	291	83	208	47.8	13.6	34.2	7.06	94.6	53.86
1983	6 291	301	87	214	47.8	13.8	33.9	7.02	95.5	53.39
1984	6 488	310	92	218	47.7	14.2	33.6	6.98	97.0	52.76
1985	6 686	321	98	223	47.8	14.6	33.2	6.92	99.0	51.90
1986	6 891	330	104	226	47.8	15.1	32.8	6.85	101.0	51.06
1987	7 095	338	110	229	47.6	15.4	32.2	6.77	102.9	50.33
1988	7 294	347	116	231	47.4	15.8	31.6	6.68	104.4	49.53
1989	7 491	356	122	234	47.4	16.2	31.2	6.61	105.4	48.70
1990	7 686	363	128	235	47.1	16.6	30.5	6.53	106.1	47.93
1991	7 880	372	134	238	47.1	17.0	30.1	6.45	106.6	47.10
1992	8 074	381	140	241	47.0	17.2	29.8	6.36	106.4	46.51
1993	8 271	391	144	247	47.1	17.3	29.8	6.32	105.5	46.21
1994	8 474	401	148	253	47.1	17.4	29.8	6.27	104.0	45.85
1995	8 684	410	152	258	47.0	17.4	29.6	6.24	102.4	45.55
1996	8 902	418	156	262	46.8	17.5	29.3	6.18	100.9	45.23
1997	9 133	425	160	265	46.5	17.5	29.0	6.12	99.5	44.95
1998	9 372	435	164	271	46.3	17.5	28.8	6.05	98.1	44.70
1999	9 621	445	168	277	46.2	17.4	28.8	5.99	96.4	44.66
2000	9 891	454	167	287	45.9	16.9	29.0	5.93	93.5	45.23
2001	10 192	460	164	296	45.2	16.1	29.1	5.86	89.0	46.02
2002	10 508	470	161	310	44.7	15.3	29.5	5.79	83.5	46.98
2003	10 838	481	155	326	44.4	14.3	30.1	5.73	78.1	48.28
2004	11 188	496	150	346	44.3	13.5	30.9	5.72	72.7	49.49
2005	11 565	511	146	365	44.2	12.7	31.6	5.71	67.8	50.66
2006	11 972	526	143	384	44.0	11.9	32.1	5.69	63.7	51.80
2007	12 402	538	141	398	43.5	11.4	32.1	5.61	60.8	52.74
2008	12 853	552	137	415	43.0	10.7	32.3	5.54	58.3	53.95
2009	13 318	564	132	431	42.4	10.0	32.4	5.45	55.5	55.30
2010	13 792	576	127	449	41.8	9.2	32.6	5.36	52.9	56.80
2011	14 266	587	125	462	41.2	8.8	32.4	5.27	51.6	57.77
2012	14 745	595	122	473	40.4	8.3	32.1	5.15	50.4	58.87
2013	15 235	602	119	483	39.5	7.8	31.7	5.03	48.3	59.88
2014	15 738	607	117	490	38.6	7.4	31.2	4.90	46.7	60.70
2015	16 248	614	117	498	37.8	7.2	30.6	4.79	46.3	61.21
2016	16 768	624	116	508	37.2	6.9	30.3	4.71	44.9	61.79
2017	17 298	633	118	515	36.6	6.8	29.8	4.61	44.5	62.12
2018	17 836	643	120	522	36.0	6.7	29.3	4.54	45.0	62.34
2019	18 380	652	121	531	35.5	6.6	28.9	4.45	44.2	62.79
2020	19 059	656	119	536	34.4	6.3	28.1	4.32	41.4	63.4
2021	19 604	665	130	536	33.9	6.6	27.3	4.25	40.3	62.4
2022	20 153	676	113	536	33.5	5.6	28.0	4.18	39.3	65.3
2023	20 724	686	108	578	33.1	5.2	27.9	4.10	38.2	66.3

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) :

Year	Total			Urban			Rural
Year	CBR	TFR	WFR	CBR	TFR	WFR	CBR	TFR	WFR
1992	45	6.5	5.4	44	5.8	4.7	46	7.1	6.2
1996	45.2	6.08	5.2	43.7	5.08	4.1	46.1	6.86	6.1
2001–2002	43.3	5.9	4.9	36.7	4.3	3.4	47.0	6.9	5.8
2007	43.6	6.2	5.2	36.3	4.3	3.6	47.5	7.5	6.3
2013–2014	37.2	5.3	4.5	32.2	3.7	3.3	40.3	6.6	5.6
2018	35.3	4.7	4.0	30.9	3.4	2.9	38.4	5.8	5.0
2024	32.1	4.0		28.4	3.2		35.3	4.9

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Fertility data as of 2013–2014 (DHS Program):

Province	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Central	5.9	8.1	6.8
Copperbelt	4.0	7.6	5.5
Eastern	5.8	8.7	6.9
Luapula	6.4	11.4	6.6
Lusaka	3.7	7.7	5.1
Muchinga	6.3	10.3	7.2
Northern	6.6	10.4	7.6
North Western	6.2	9.2	6.7
Southern	6.2	9.2	6.9
Western	5.6	8.1	6.0

Fertility rate by religion

At national level, the TFR was highest among women with no religious affiliation at 6.5. Among the women with religious affiliation Protestants had the highest TFR of 6.0, followed by Muslims with 5.9 and Catholics with 5.7.

Religious Affiliation	Total fertility rate
Protestantism	6.0
Catholicism	5.7
Islam	3.2
Hinduism	2.0
Other religions	5.8
Not religious	6.5
Zambia (total)	5.9

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	42.07
1955–1960	44.13
1960–1965	46.08
1965–1970	47.83
1970–1975	50.16
1975–1980	51.47
1980–1985	50.31
1985–1990	46.74
1990–1995	43.79
1995–2000	43.53
2000–2005	46.86
2005–2010	52.93
2010–2015	59.73

Other demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics of Zambia in 2022 are from the World Population Review.

One birth every 47 seconds
One death every 4 minutes
One net migrant every 65 minutes
Net gain of one person every 57 seconds

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

19,642,123 (2022 est.)

16,445,079 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 45.74% (male 4,005,134/female 3,964,969)

15-24 years: 20.03% (male 1,744,843/female 1,746,561)

25-54 years: 28.96% (male 2,539,697/female 2,506,724)

55-64 years: 3.01% (male 242,993/female 280,804)

65 years and over: 2.27% (male 173,582/female 221,316) (2020 est.)

0-14 years: 45.95% (male 3,796,548 /female 3,759,624)

15-24 years: 20% (male 1,643,364 /female 1,645,713)

25-54 years: 28.79% (male 2,384,765 /female 2,349,877)

55-64 years: 2.95% (male 225,586 /female 260,252)

65 years and over: 2.31% (male 166,224 /female 213,126) (2018 est.)

Religions

Protestant 75.3%

Roman Catholic 20.2%

other 2.7% (includes Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha'i)

none 1.8%

(2010 est.)

Birth rate

34.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 17th

41.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 6th

Death rate

6.12 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 152nd

12 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Total fertility rate

year	children born/woman	country comparison to the world
2018 est.	5.58 children	8th
2022 est.	4.56 children	18th
2023 est.	4.49 children	18th

Population growth rate

2.9% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 12th

2.91% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 10th

Median age

year	total	male	female
2002 est.	16.5 years	16.4 years	16.6 years
2010 est.	17.2 years	17.1 years	17.3 years
2018 est.	16.8 years	16.7 years	16.9 years
2020 est.	16.9 years	16.7 years	17 years

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.2 years (2018 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

Net migration rate

0.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 77th

Contraceptive prevalence rate

49.6% (2018)

49% (2013/14)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 91.9 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 87.1 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 4.8 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 20.8 (2015 est.)

Population distribution

one of the highest levels of urbanization in Africa; high density in the central area, particularly around the cities of Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, and Mufulira

Urbanization

urban population: 45.8% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 4.15% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 43.5% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 4.23% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female

total population: 1 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

year	total population	male	year
2000 est.	37.24 years	37.08 years	37.41 years
2017 est.	52.7 years	51.1 years	54.4 years
2018 est.	53 years	51.4 years	54.7 years
2022 est.	66.26 years	64.52 years	68.06 years

Education expenditures

4.5% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 85th

Nationality

noun:Zambian(s)

adjective:Zambian

Demographic profile

Zambia's youthful population consists primarily of Bantu-speaking people representing nearly 70 different ethnicities. Zambia's high fertility rate continues to drive rapid population growth, averaging almost 3 percent annually between 2000 and 2010. The country's total fertility rate has fallen by less than 1.5 children per woman during the last 30 years and still averages among the world's highest, almost 6 children per woman, largely because of the country's lack of access to family planning services, education for girls, and employment for women. Zambia also exhibits wide fertility disparities based on rural or urban location, education, and income. Poor, uneducated women from rural areas are more likely to marry young, to give birth early, and to have more children, viewing children as a sign of prestige and recognizing that not all of their children will live to adulthood.

Languages

Further information: Languages of Zambia

Bemba 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.7%, unspecified 0.2% (2010 est.)

note: Zambia is said to have over 70 languages, although many of these may be considered dialects; all of Zambia's major languages are members of the Bantu family

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

year	total population	male	female
2015 est.	63.4%	70.9%	56%
2018	86.7%	90.6%	83.1%

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

year	total	male	female
2012 est.	15.2%	14.6%	15.8%
2019 est.	30.1%	32.1%	27.6%

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v t e Ethnic groups in Zambia
Bemba Bwile Chewa Chokwe Ishindi-Lunda Kafwe Twa Kanongesha-Lunda Kunda Lamba Lambya Lovale Lozi Lukanga Twa Lunda Lungu Mambwe Mbunda Mwanga Ndwandwe Ngoni Nkoya Nsenga Nyiha Senga Subiya Tokaleya Tonga Tumbuka Yombe

v t e Demographics of Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) Western Sahara

Categories:

Ethnic groups

2010 census

Population

Vital statistics

Fertility and births

Fertility rate by religion

Life expectancy

Other demographic statistics

Population

Age structure

Religions

Birth rate

Death rate

Total fertility rate

Population growth rate

Median age

Mother's mean age at first birth

Net migration rate

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Dependency ratios

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major infectious diseases

Sex ratio

Life expectancy at birth

Education expenditures

Nationality

Demographic profile

Languages

Literacy

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

See also

References