Demographics of Niger

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Niger, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

This article is about the people of Niger. It is not to be confused with Nigerians, the people of Nigeria.

Nigerien people

Fulani women with traditional facial tattoos.
Languages
French and Regional languages
Religion
Islam • Christianity • Traditional Beliefs

The largest ethnic groups in Niger are the Hausa, who also constitute the major ethnic group in northern Nigeria, and the Zarma Songhay (also spelled Djerma-Songhai), who also are found in parts of Mali. Both groups are sedentary farmers who live in the arable, southern tier. The Kanouri (including Beri Beri, Manga) make up the majority of sedentary population in the far southeast of the nation. The remainder of the Nigerien people are nomadic or seminomadic livestock-raising peoples—Tuareg, Fulani,[1] Toubou and Diffa Arabs. With rapidly growing populations and the consequent competition for meager natural resources, lifestyles of these two types of peoples have come increasingly into conflict in Niger in recent years.

Niger's high infant mortality rate is comparable to levels recorded in neighboring countries. However, the child mortality rate (deaths among children between the ages of 1 and 4) is exceptionally high (274 per 1,000) due to generally poor health conditions and inadequate nutrition for most of the country's children. Niger's very high total fertility rate (6.89 children born per woman, which is the highest in the world[2]), nonetheless, means that nearly half (49%) of the Nigerien population is under age 15. School attendance is low (34%), including 38% of males and 27% of females. Additional education occurs through Koranic schools.

Population

Demographics of Niger, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Year	Population (persons)	%+
1960	3,240,000	—
1970	4,210,000	29.9%
1980	5,578,000	32.5%
1990	7,754,610	39.0%
2000	10,492,569	35.3%
2010	15,203,822	44.9%

Source: Institut National de la Statistique - Niger[3]

Census results

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1977	5,102,990	—
1988	7,251,626	+42.1%
2001	11,060,291	+52.5%
2012	17,138,707	+55.0%

UN estimates

According to the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects[4][5] the total population was 22,442,831 in 2018, compared to only 2 462 000 in 1950. The proportion of children and teenagers below the age of 15 in 2010 was 49%, 48.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while only 2.2% was 65 years or older.[6]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	2 462 000	49.5	49.6	0.9
1955	2 834 000	48.1	51.1	0.8
1960	3 250 000	47.1	51.8	1.1
1965	3 766 000	46.9	51.7	1.3
1970	4 373 000	47.7	50.8	1.5
1975	5 071 000	48.1	50.3	1.6
1980	5 871 000	48.0	50.3	1.7
1985	6 744 000	48.2	49.9	1.9
1990	7 788 000	48.3	49.7	2.0
1995	9 179 000	48.3	49.6	2.1
2000	10 922 000	48.5	49.4	2.1
2005	12 994 000	48.9	49.0	2.1
2010	15 512 000	49.0	48.8	2.2

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years[7]
1950–1955	34.50
1955–1960	34.81
1960–1965	35.29
1965–1970	35.62
1970–1975	36.32
1975–1980	37.75
1980–1985	40.36
1985–1990	42.27
1990–1995	45.01
1995–2000	48.36
2000–2005	51.42
2005–2010	54.91
2010–2015	58.53

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Niger is incomplete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [6]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	139 000	66 000	74 000	52.6	24.8	27.8	6.86	174
1955-1960	164 000	76 000	88 000	53.8	24.9	29.0	6.96	171
1960-1965	195 000	89 000	105 000	55.5	25.5	30.1	7.13	167
1965-1970	229 000	105 000	124 000	56.2	25.8	30.4	7.32	164
1970-1975	263 000	121 000	142 000	55.8	25.6	30.2	7.52	162
1975-1980	301 000	138 000	164 000	55.1	25.1	29.9	7.63	161
1980-1985	350 000	157 000	193 000	55.4	24.8	30.6	7.76	159
1985-1990	406 000	179 000	227 000	55.9	24.6	31.3	7.81	155
1990-1995	471 000	192 000	279 000	55.5	22.7	32.8	7.78	146
1995-2000	538 000	194 000	344 000	53.5	19.3	34.2	7.60	131
2000-2005	614 000	194 000	420 000	51.3	16.2	35.1	7.40	113
2005-2010	705 000	196 000	509 000	49.5	13.8	35.7	7.19	96
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Fertility and births

Total fertility rate (TFR; Wanted Fertility Rate) and crude birth rate (CBR):[8]

Year	CBR total	TFR total	CBR urban	TFR urban	CBR rural	TFR rural
1988		7.51
1992		7.37 (7,1)		6.71 (6,3)		7.52 (7,3)
1998	52.8	7.5 (7,2)	44.0	5.9 (5,6)	55.0	7.9 (7,7)
2006	46.1	7.1 (6,9)	40.7	6.0 (5,6)	47.1	7.4 (7,2)
2012	46.6	7.6 (6,8)	39.0	5.6 (4,7)	48.1	8.1 (7,3)

Fertility data as of 2012 (DHS Program):[9]

Region	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Agadez	5.7	9.2	7.1
Diffa	6.4	11.0	6.3
Dosso	7.5	11.7	7.7
Maradi	8.4	16.4	9.0
Tahoua	7.3	13.0	7.5
Tillabéri	7.9	15.6	7.8
Zinder	8.5	17.3	8.6
Niamey	5.3	9.6	5.9

Ethnic groups

Population of Niger according to ethnic group in 1988 and 2001

Ethnic group	census 1988[10]		census 2001[10]
	Number	%	Number	%
Hausa	3,770,927	53.0	6,069,731	55.4
Djerma	1,511,341	21.2	2,300,874	21.0
Tuareg	739,202	10.4	1,016,883	9.3
Fulani	694,428	9.8	935,517	8.5
Kanuri	316,471	4.4	513,116	4.7
Toubou	31,403	0.4	42,172	0.4
Arab	24,178	0.3	40,085	0.4
Gurma	19,714	0.3	39,797	0.4
Other	12,265	0.2	5,951	0.1
Total	7,119,929		10,964,126

Core health indicators

World Health Organization 2007 statistics: Core Health Indicators for Niger[11]
Indicator	Value	(year)
Life expectancy at birth (years) males	61.05	(2015)
Life expectancy at birth (years) females	62.9	(2015)
Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth (years) males	36.0	(2002)
Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth (years) females	35.0	(2002)
Probability of dying (per 1 000 population) between 15 and 60 years (adult mortality rate) males	502	(2005)
Probability of dying (per 1 000 population) between 15 and 60 years (adult mortality rate) females	478	(2005)
Total expenditure on health as percentage of gross domestic product	4.2	(2004)
Per capita total expenditure on health at international dollar rate	25.9	(2004)
Population (in thousands) total	13957	(2005)

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[12]

• One birth every 29 seconds
• One death every 3 minutes
• One net migrant every 90 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 36 seconds

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook[13] unless otherwise indicated.

Population

19,866,231 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Niger in 2017

0-14 years: 48.68% (male 4,878,031 /female 4,793,021)

15-24 years: 19.36% (male 1,899,879 /female 1,945,806)

25-54 years: 26.02% (male 2,581,597 /female 2,587,913)

55-64 years: 3.3% (male 340,032 /female 315,142)

65 years and over: 2.64% (male 268,072 /female 256,738) (2018 est.)

Birth rate

43.6 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 2nd

Death rate

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

Total fertility rate

6.35 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 1st

Median age

total: 15.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 228th

male: 15.4 years

female: 15.7 years (2018 est.)

Population growth rate

3.16% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 7th

Mother's mean age at first birth

18.1 years (2012 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

18.9% (2017)

Net migration rate

-0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 125th

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 111.6 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 106.2 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 5.4 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 18.6 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 16.4% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 4.27% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
younger than 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 56.3 years (2018 est.)

male: 55 years (2018 est.)

female: 57.7 years (2018 est.)

total population: 52.6 years

male: 51.39 years

female: 53.85 years (2010 est.)

Nationality

noun: Nigerien(s)
adjective: Nigerien

Ethnic Groups[14]

• Hausa 53.1%
• Zarma/Songhai 21.2%
• Tuareg 11%
• Fulani (French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe) 6.5%
• Kanuri 5.9%
• Gurma 0.8%
• Arab 0.4%
• Tubu 0.4%
• Other/Unavailable 0.9% (2006 est.)

Religions

Muslim 99.3%, Christian 0.3%, animist 0.2%, none 0.1% (2012 est.)

Languages[14]

Main article: Languages of Niger

• French (official)
• Hausa
• Zarma (Djerma)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

total population: 19.1% (2015 est.)

male: 27.3% (2015 est.)

female: 11% (2015 est.)

Total population: 28.7% (2004 est.; source: UNDP 2006; NB- this figure is given without reference to which languages are considered)

Male: 42.9%

Female: 15.1%

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 6 years (2017)

male: 7 years (2017)

female: 6 years (2017)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 80% (2011 est.)

male: 55% (2019 est.)

female: 25% (2019 est.)

See also

• Seasonal migration in Niger

References

1. In Fula: Fulɓe; in French: Peul.
2. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html
3. "Annuaire Statistique - Démographie". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
4. ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
5. ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
6. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
7. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
8. http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/dhs#_r=&collection=&country=&dtype=&from=1890&page=11&ps=&sk=&sort_by=nation&sort_order=&to=2014&topic=&view=s&vk=
9. http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR277/FR277.pdf
10. UN Demographic Yearbooks
11. World Health Organization 2007 statistics: Core Health Indicators for Niger.
12. "Niger Population 2019", World Population Review
13. "The World FactBook - Niger", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
14. "Africa :: NIGER". CIA The World Factbook.

• UNDP. 2006. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• UNDP The Human Development Index reports: Niger.
• Health Organization Niger overview. Includes links to statistics, programs and news on health and demography in Niger.
• WHO "Country Logbook" for Niger. Providing Surveys, Censuses, Monitoring of vital events, Health services & surveillance, Health situation & trend analysis, and Planning & strategic documents .
• ethnologue.com: Ethnic and linguistic breakdown for Niger.
• OECD/ AEO 2007 Niger country study.
• The AGRHYMET Regional Centre (ARC), Niamey Office. Institute of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) composed of nine member States, including Niger.
• The World Bank, Niger overview and resources.