Demographics of Réunion

This article concerns the demography of Réunion. People of Réunion are Réunionese. The official language is French, and Réunionese Creole is widely spoken. The population of Réunion is 882,526 as of 2018.[1][2]

Population

As of 2018, estimates put the population of Réunion at 882,526, with a growth rate of 1.63%. The birth rate was estimated at 21.84 births per 1,000 population, and the death rate at 5.55 deaths per 1,000 population in the same year. The net migration rate was zero in 2000. The following table describes age structure and sex ratios in Réunion.

Age structure and sex ratio

Age band (years)	Percentage population	Sex ratio (male/female)
At birth	n/a	1.05
0-14	32	1.05
15-64	62	0.97
65+	6	0.68

Structure of the population [3]

Structure of the population (01.01.2010) (Provisional estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	399 728	428 326	828 054	100
0-4	35 044	33 093	68 137	8,23
5-9	36 404	34 819	71 223	8,60
10-14	36 292	34 535	70 827	8,55
15-19	35 775	35 479	71 254	8,60
20-24	28 067	28 265	56 332	6,80
25-29	22 922	27 618	50 540	6,10
30-34	24 936	30 303	55 239	6,67
35-39	28 029	32 557	60 586	7,32
40-44	32 311	35 469	67 780	8,19
45-49	30 352	31 939	62 291	7,52
50-54	24 261	25 699	49 960	6,03
55-59	20 577	21 820	42 397	5,12
60-64	15 588	15 727	31 315	3,78
65-69	11 380	12 867	24 247	2,93
70-74	7 912	10 529	18 441	2,23
75-79	5 036	7 513	12 549	1,52
80-84	2 948	5 295	8 243	1,00
85-89	1 438	3 203	4 641	0,56
90-94	350	1 173	1 523	0,18
95+	106	423	529	0,06

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	107 740	102 446	210 187	25,38
15-64	262 818	284 877	547 695	66,14
65+	29 170	41 003	70 173	8,47

Historical population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1950	248,000	—
1960	335,000	+35.1%
1970	462,000	+37.9%
1980	510,000	+10.4%
1990	612,000	+20.0%
2000	739,000	+20.8%
2010	846,000	+14.5%
2019	866,500	+2.4%
Source:[4] 2019 data[5]

Year	Population		Year	Population		Year	Population
1671	90		1830	101 300		1961	349 282
1696	269		1848	110 300		1967	416 525
1704	734		1849	120 900		1974	476 675
1713	1 171		1860	200 000		1982	515 814
1717	2 000		1870	212 000		1990	597 823
1724	12 550		1887	163 881		1999	706 300
1764	25 000		1897	173 192		2006	781 962
1777	35 100		1926	182 637		2007	790 500
1789	61 300		1946	241 708		2008	802 001
1826	87 100		1954	274 370
Official data from INSEE by census or estimate; estimates shown in italics.

Vital statistics[6][7]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1950	248	11 714	5 570	6 144	48.0	22.8	25.2
1951	259	11 684	4 653	7 031	46.5	18.5	28.0
1952	268	13 231	4 677	8 554	51.3	18.1	33.2
1953	277	13 597	4 444	9 153	51.1	16.7	34.4
1954	284	13 613	4 064	9 549	49.7	14.8	34.9
1955	292	14 082	4 394	9 688	49.2	15.4	33.9
1956	300	14 129	3 746	10 383	47.7	12.7	35.1
1957	308	14 484	3 464	11 020	46.9	11.2	35.7
1958	317	14 271	4 594	9 677	44.9	14.4	30.4
1959	326	14 388	4 422	9 966	44.0	13.5	30.5
1960	336	14 856	3 892	10 964	44.0	11.5	32.4
1961	345	15 205	4 001	11 204	43.7	11.5	32.2
1962	355	15 937	4 121	11 816	44.4	11.5	32.9
1963	366	16 482	4 058	12 424	44.4	10.9	33.5
1964	378	16 681	3 960	12 721	43.3	10.3	33.0
1965	391	16 869	3 806	13 063	42.9	9.7	33.2
1966	405	16 683	4 284	12 399	41.4	10.6	30.8
1967	421	16 013	3 586	12 427	38.1	8.5	29.6
1968	437	15 827	3 763	12 064	37.2	8.8	28.3
1969	451	15 153	3 867	11 286	34.8	8.9	25.9
1970	462	13 437	3 663	9 774	30.1	8.2	21.9
1971	470	14 432	3 494	10 938	31.7	7.7	24.0
1972	475	13 740	3 391	10 349	29.7	7.3	22.4
1973	479	13 287	3 377	9 910	28.3	7.2	21.1
1974	482	13 423	3 090	10 333	28.3	6.5	21.8
1975	485	13 301	3 182	10 119	27.7	6.6	21.0
1976	488	12 828	3 113	9 715	26.3	6.4	20.0
1977	492	12 517	3 119	9 398	25.4	6.3	19.1
1978	497	11 978	3 129	8 849	24.1	6.3	17.8
1979	503	12 444	3 021	9 423	24.8	6.0	18.7
1980	509	12 302	3 258	9 044	24.2	6.4	17.8
1981	517	11 838	3 161	8 677	23.1	6.2	16.9
1982	527	11 964	3 048	8 916	23.1	5.9	17.2
1983	537	12 484	3 301	9 183	23.7	6.3	17.4
1984	548	13 116	3 040	10 076	24.4	5.7	18.8
1985	559	13 163	3 018	10 145	24.1	5.5	18.6
1986	569	12 797	3 065	9 732	23.0	5.5	17.5
1987	579	12 599	3 090	9 509	22.3	5.5	16.8
1988	589	13 561	3 163	10 398	23.6	5.5	18.1
1989	599	13 898	3 307	10 591	23.6	5.6	18.0
1990	611	13 877	3 151	10 726	23.1	5.2	17.8
1991	622	14 117	3 401	10 716	23.1	5.6	17.5
1992	635	14 240	3 347	10 893	22.8	5.4	17.4
1993	648	13 432	3 205	10 227	21.3	5.1	16.2
1994	661	13 327	3 089	10 238	20.7	4.8	15.9
1995	674	13 053	3 135	9 918	19.9	4.8	15.1
1996	686	13 047	3 565	9 482	19.5	5.3	14.2
1997	699	13 712	3 553	10 159	20.1	5.2	14.9
1998	712	13 538	3 731	9 807	19.5	5.4	14.2
1999	724	14 153	3 825	10 328	20.0	5.4	14.6	2.33
2000	736	14 594	3 836	10 758	20.2	5.3	14.9	2.51
2001	748	14 541	3 829	10 712	19.8	5.2	14.6	2.45
2002	759	14 789	4 004	10 785	19.8	5.4	14.4	2.41
2003	770	14 427	4 041	10 386	19.0	5.3	13.7	2.43
2004	780	14 545	3 958	10 587	18.9	5.1	13.8	2.45
2005	791	14 610	4 357	10 253	18.7	5.6	13.1	2.49
2006	802	14 495	4 323	10 172	18.4	5.5	12.9	2.44
2007	813	14 808	3 974	10 834	18.6	5.0	13.6	2.47
2008	823	14 927	4 115	10 812	18.4	5.1	13.4	2.47
2009	834	14 299	4 109	10 190	17.4	5.0	12.4	2.37
2010	845	14 147	4 220	9 927	17.0	5.1	11.9	2.36
2011	855	14 124	4 002	10 122	16.5	4.7	11.8	2.36
2012	865	14 288	4 167	10 121	16.5	4.8	11.7
2013	845	14 002	4 258	9 744	16.6	5.1	11.5	2.40
2014		14 095	4 355	9 740	16.8	5.2	11.6
2015		14 011	4 531	9 480	16.5
2016	857	13 742	4 685	9 053	16.1	5.5		2.43
2017	862	13 708	4 673	9 035	15.9	5.4		2.43

Life expectancy

At birth, life expectancy is 76.5 years for male children, and 82.9 for female (figures for 2011).[7]

Religion

Moufia Mosque in Saint-Denis

The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism with Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism also represented, among others.

Language

French is the only official language of Reunion. Although not official, Réunion Creole is also commonly spoken by the majority of the population. One can hear it in any administration or office, but education is only in French.[8]

Tamil is taught as optional language in some schools.[9] Due to the diverse population, other languages such as Mandarin, Hakka and Cantonese are also spoken by members of the Chinese community, but fewer people speak these languages as younger generations start to converse in French. The number of speakers of Indian languages (mostly Urdu and Gujarati) is also dropping sharply. Arabic is taught in mosques and spoken by a small community of Arabs.

Ethnic groups

See also: Cafres, Indo-Réunionnais, Malbars, and Chinois (Réunion)

Manapany

Ethnic groups present include people of European, African, Malagasy, Indians and Chinese origin as well as many of mixed race. Local names for these are used: Yabs, Cafres, Malbars and Zarabes (both ethnic groups of Indian origin) and Chinois.

The proportion of people of each ethnicity is not known exactly, since the 1958 constitution bans questions about ethnicity in compulsory censuses in France.[10] Extensive and long-going intermarriage also blurs the issue. Whites are estimated to make up approximately one-quarter of the population, Indians also roughly a quarter, and people of Chinese ancestry to form roughly 3%. The percentages of racially mixed people and those of Afro-Malagasy origins vary wildly between estimates, though they are very few in number.[11][12][13]

People of Tamil origin make up the majority of the Indo-Réunionnais people; Gujarati, Bihari and other origins form the remainder of the population. The island's community of Muslims from modern region of Pakistan and North India and elsewhere is also commonly referred to as Zarabes.

Creoles (a name given to those born on the island, of various ethnic origins), make up the majority of the population. Groups that are not creole include people from Metropolitan France (known as Zoreilles) and those from Mayotte and the Comoros.

Genetics

In 2005, a genetic study on the racially mixed people of Réunion found the following. For maternal (mitochondrial) DNA, the haplogroups are Indian (44%), East Asian (27%), European/Middle Eastern (19%) or African (10%). The Indian lineages are M2, M6 and U2i, the East Asian ones are E1, D5a, M7c, and F (E1 and M7c also found only in South East Asia and in Madagascar), the European/Middle Eastern ones are U2e, T1, J, H, and I, and the African ones are L1b1, L2a1, L3b, and L3e1.[14]

For paternal (Y-chromosome) DNA, the haplogroups are European/Middle Eastern (85%) or East Asian (15%). The European lineages are R1b and I, the Middle Eastern one E1b1b1c (formerly E3b3) (also found in Northeast Africa), and the East Asian ones are R1a (found in many parts of the world including Europe and Central and Southern Asia but the particular sequence has been found in Asia) and O3.[14]

References

1. ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
2. ""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.
3. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
4. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived February 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
5. INSEE. "Estimation de population par région, sexe et grande classe d'âge - Années 1975 à 2019" (in French). Retrieved 2019-01-19.
6. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm#2001 United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
7. "Insee - Population". insee.fr.
8. "Ethnologue report (language code:rcf)". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
9. "NRI" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-21. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
10. Oppenheimer, David B. (2008-08-20). "SSRN-Why France Needs to Collect Data on Racial Identity - In a French Way by David Oppenheimer". Papers.ssrn.com. SSRN 1236362. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. Clicanoo. "La Réunion Métisse".
12. Tarnus, Evelyne; Bourdon, Emmanuel (2006). "Anthropometric evaluations of body composition of undergraduate students at the University of La Réunion". Advances in Physiology Education. 30 (4): 248–253. doi:10.1152/advan.00069.2005. PMID 17108254.
13. Archived February 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
14. Gemma Berniell-Lee; Stéphanie Plaza; Elena Bosch; Francesc Calafell; Eric Jourdan; Maya Cesari; Gérard Lefranc & David Comas (2008). "Admixture and Sexual Bias in the Population Settlement of La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean)". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. WILEY-LISS, INC. 136 (1): 100–107. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20783. PMID 18186507. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2010-07-09.

External links

• Réunion page at INSEE