Demographics of Zimbabwe

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

Zimbabwean people

Population Density Map of Zimbabwe
Languages
English and Regional languages
Religion
Christianity

Population

The population of Zimbabwe has grown during the 20th century in accordance with the model of a developing country with high birth rates and falling death rates, resulting in relatively high population growth rate (around 3% or above in the 1960s and early 1970s). After a spurt in the period 1980-1983 following independence, a decline in birth rates set in. Since 1991, however, there has been a jump in death rates from a low of 10 per 1000 in 1985 to a high of 25 per 1000 in 2002/2003. It has since subsided to just under 22 per 1000 (estimate for 2007) a little below the birth rate of around 27 per 1000.[1][2]

The high death rate is a result of poor medical facilities. This leads to a small natural increase of around 0.5%. Deaths due to HIV/AIDS have reduced due to improved methods of protection. However, outward migration rates of around 1.5% or more have been experienced for over a decade, therefore actual population changes are uncertain. Because of the high number of unaccounted emigrants, the recent increase of emigration and the death toll from AIDS, the total population might be declining to as low as 8 million according to some estimates.[3]

Census data

Historical data of Southern Rhodesia

Census

Year	Black	White	Coloured	Asian
1911	744,558	23,606	2,912
1921	862,319	33,620	1,998	1,250

Estimates

Year	Black	White
1890	700,000
1910	900,000	20,000
1927	922,000	38,200
1930	1,300,000
1945	1,400,000?	140,000
1946	1,640,000	80,500

Current estimates

Based on the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects[4][5], the population of Zimbabwe was estimated by the United Nations at 14,438,802 in 2018. About 38.9% comprised youths under 15, while another 56.9% grouped persons aged between 15 and 65 years. Only around 4.2% of citizens were apparently over 65.[6]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	2 747 000	42.0	54.8	3.2
1955	3 204 000	43.8	52.9	3.3
1960	3 752 000	45.3	51.4	3.4
1965	4 422 000	47.7	49.0	3.3
1970	5 206 000	48.1	48.7	3.2
1975	6 170 000	48.4	48.5	3.1
1980	7 289 000	48.9	48.1	3.0
1985	8 855 000	47.9	49.1	3.0
1990	10 469 000	46.1	50.9	3.0
1995	11 685 000	44.3	52.5	3.2
2000	12 509 000	41.7	54.9	3.4
2005	12 710 000	40.1	56.1	3.8
2010	13 080 000	38.9	56.9	4.2

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Zimbabwe is not complete. The Population Department 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	144 000	52 000	92 000	48.3	17.4	30.9	6.80	115
1955-1960	167 000	56 000	111 000	48.1	16.2	31.8	7.00	105
1960-1965	197 000	61 000	136 000	48.2	15.0	33.3	7.30	97
1965-1970	229 000	66 000	162 000	47.5	13.7	33.7	7.40	90
1970-1975	271 000	72 000	199 000	47.6	12.6	35.0	7.40	83
1975-1980	320 000	76 000	244 000	47.6	11.3	36.3	7.30	74
1980-1985	363 000	78 000	285 000	44.9	9.6	35.3	6.74	64
1985-1990	381 000	83 000	299 000	39.5	8.6	30.9	5.66	56
1990-1995	390 000	108 000	281 000	35.2	9.8	25.4	4.77	55
1995-2000	381 000	176 000	205 000	31.5	14.5	16.9	4.05	65
2000-2005	372 000	220 000	152 000	29.7	17.5	12.1	3.74	68
2005-2010	370 000	190 000	180 000	29.4	15.1	14.3	3.47	59
* 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):[7][8]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1982-1984		6.66		5.33		7.28
1985-1988		5.31		3.86		6.06
1994	31.6	4.29 (3.5)	30.5	3.09 (2.6)	32.0	4.85 (3.9)
1999	30.8	3.96 (3.4)	31.3	2.96 (2.6)	30.5	4.57 (3.8)
2005-2006	31.0	3.8 (3.3)	28.5	2.6 (2.3)	32.0	4.6 (3.9)
2010-2011	34	4.1 (3.4)	34	3.1 (2.7)	34	4.8 (4.0)
2015	32.0	4.0 (3.6)	31.1	3.0 (2.7)	32.7	4.7 (4.1)

Fertility data as of 2010-2011 (DHS Program):[9]

Province	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Manicaland	4.8	8.8	4.9
Mashonaland Central	4.5	9.1	5.0
Mashonaland East	4.5	7.3	4.2
Mashonaland West	4.5	8.5	5.0
Matabeleland North	4.1	7.7	5.2
Matabeleland South	4.2	6.6	4.6
Midlands	4.2	7.6	4.8
Masvingo	4.7	11.1	4.6
Harare	3.1	8.4	3.5
Bulawayo	2.8	4.8	3.2

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy from 1950 to 2015 (UN World Population Prospects)[10]:

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	48.54
1955–1960	50.59
1960–1965	52.48
1965–1970	54.13
1970–1975	55.78
1975–1980	57.84
1980–1985	60.54
1985–1990	60.18
1990–1995	54.66
1995–2000	47.35
2000–2005	44.13
2005–2010	48.35
2010–2015	57.64

Ethnic groups

According to 2012 Census report, 99.6% of the population is of African origin.[11] Of the rest of the population, the great bulk—perhaps 30,000 persons[12][13][14]—are white Zimbabweans of European ancestry, a minority which had diminished in size prior to independence.[15]

The vast black majority has grown at a projected annual rate of 4.3% since 1980.[16] Although present figures are difficult to ascertain, the white community once reproduced itself at an annual rate (under 1.5%) similar to that of most totals in developed nations.[17] Of the two major ethnolinguistic categories, Shona speakers formed a decisive plurality and occupied the eastern two-thirds of Zimbabwe.[18] Ndebele speakers constitute about 16%, and none of the other indigenous ethnic groups came to as much as 2% in recent decades.[19] African speakers of nonindigenous languages included migrant workers from Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.[20]

Three-quarters of white Zimbabweans are of British or British diasporan origin; at various times many emigrated from South Africa and elsewhere.[17] After World War II, Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) received a substantial influx of emigrants from the United Kingdom—a handful previously resided in other colonies such as Pakistan and Kenya. Also represented on a much smaller scale were individuals of Afrikaner, Greek, and Portuguese origin.[15] After Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, Ian Smith's administration removed technical obstacles to immigration from southern Europe.[17]

A heavily urbanised Coloured population is descended, partially, from early unions between White Rhodesian settlers and local Black African females. Many, however, can also trace their ancestry to the Dutch/Khoisan mulatto clans of the Cape.

With the exception of a select few who were brought to Zimbabwe as railroad workers, most Asians in Zimbabwe arrived from India pursuing employment or entrepreneurship. An educated class, they have traditionally engaged in retail trade or manufacturing.[17]

Languages

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages: Chewa, Tonga, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa.[21] English is widely used in administration, law and schools, though less than 2.5%, mainly the white and Coloured (mixed race) minorities, consider it their native language. The rest of the population speak Shona (70%) and Ndebele (20%), Kalanga (2%), etc.[22] Shona has a rich oral tradition, which was incorporated into the first Shona novel, Feso by Solomon Mutswairo, published in 1956.[23] English is spoken primarily in the cities, but less so in rural areas. Television news is broadcast in English, Shona and Ndebele though the local languages time slot falls out of prime viewing time, but radio broadcasts in English, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Nambya, Venda, Suthu and Tonga. English, Ndebele and Shona are given far more airtime.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Zimbabwe

85 percent of Zimbabweans are Christian, and of that number, 61 percent regularly attend Christian churches.[24] The largest Christian churches are Anglican, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist and Methodist. However like most former European colonies, Christianity is often mixed with enduring traditional beliefs. Besides Christianity, ancestral worship (Amadlozi) is the most practised non-Christian religion which involves ancestor worship and spiritual intercession. Under 1% of the population is Muslim, although many Zimbabweans are influenced by Islamic food laws.

Health

See also: HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe

According to the United Nations World Health Organization, the average life expectancy for men in 2006 was 37 years and for women was 34 years of age, the lowest in the world at the time.[25] An association of doctors in Zimbabwe have made calls for President Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service.[26] Since then it has recovered, and the figures for 2010 to 2015 were 53 and 54 for men and women respectively.[27]

Other demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics of Zimbabwe in 2019 are from the World Population Review.[28]

• One birth every 59 seconds
• One death every 4 minutes
• One net migrant every 27 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 1 minute

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[29]

Ethnic groups[30]

• African 99.4% (predominantly Shona; Ndebele is the second largest ethnic group)
• Other 0.4%
• Unspecified 0.2% (2012 est.)

Languages[30]

• Shona (official; most widely spoken), Ndebele (official, second most widely spoken), English (official; traditionally used for official business), 13 minority languages (official; includes Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa)

Religions[30]

Protestant 74.8% (includes Apostolic 37.5%, Pentecostal 21.8%, other 15.5%), Roman Catholic 7.3%, other Christian 5.3%, traditional 1.5%, Muslim 0.5%, other 0.1%, none 10.5% (2015 est.)

Population

14,030,368 (July 2018 est.)

13,805,084 (July 2017 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Zimbabwe in 2017

0-14 years: 38.62% (male 2,681,192 /female 2,736,876)

15-24 years: 20.42% (male 1,403,715 /female 1,461,168)

25-54 years: 32.22% (male 2,286,915 /female 2,234,158)

55-64 years: 4.24% (male 233,021 /female 361,759)

65 years and over: 4.5% (male 255,704 /female 375,860) (2018 est.)

Median age

total: 20.2 years. Country comparison to the world: 190th

male: 19.9 years

female: 20.4 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

34 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 25th

34.2 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

9.9 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st

10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.97 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd

Official government fertility rates over the past decade were 3.6 (2002 Census),[31] 3.8 (2006 survey also says women actually wanted on average 3.3 children)[32] and 3.8 (2012 Census).[11]

Population growth rate

1.68% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 60th

1.56% (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

20 years (2015 est.)

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

Contraceptive prevalence rate

66.8% (2015)

Net migration rate

-7.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 208th

-8.5 migrants/1,000 population (2017).There is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities.

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 79.5 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 74.4 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 19.7 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

• urban population: 32.2% of total population (2018)
• rate of urbanization: 2.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

(2011 est.)

• at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.70 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.95 male(s)/female

AIDS

• Adult prevalence rate
  • 13.3% (2017 est.)
  • 15.3% (2007)
  • 33.7% (2001 est.)
  • 25% (1999 estimate).
• People living with HIV/AIDS
  • 1.3 million (2017 est.)
  • 1.3 million (2007 est.)
  • 2.3 million (2001 est.)
• Deaths
  • 22,000 (2017 est.)
  • 140,000 (2007 est.)
  • 200,000 (2001 est.)
  • 160,000 annually (1999 estimate).

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 61.1 years

male

59 years

female: 63.2 years (2018 est.)

total population 60.4 years

male 58.3 years

female 62.5 years (2017 est.)

total population 47.55 years male 47.98 years female 47.11 years (2010 est.)

Physicians density

• 0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density

• 1.7 beds/1,000 population (2011)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

• 15.5% (2015)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

• 8.4% (2015)

Education expenditures

• 7.5% of GDP (2014) Country comparison to the world: 10th

Literacy

definition* age 15 and over can read and write English

total population: 86.5%

male: 88.5%

female: 84.6% (2015 est.)

total population* 90.7% (2003 est.), 85% (2000 est.)

male* 94.2% (2003 est.), 90% (2000 est.)

female* 87.2% (2003 est.), 80% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

Basic Education: Primary and Secondary school: 12 years Primary to High School (Including A-Level): 14 Years Primary to Tertiary (inc 4-year college degree) 18 Years

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 16.5%

male: 11.7%

female: 21.1% (2014 est.)

Nationality

• noun: Zimbabwean(s)
• adjective: Zimbabwean

References

1. Statesman's Yearbook 2007, Palgrave Macmillan, New York
2. CIA Factbook 2007, CIA Publications, Washington D.C.
3. "The Independent".
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. "World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2011-05-06.
7. "Cambodia - Demographic and Health Survey 2010". Worldbank.org. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
8. "National Health Survey 1958" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
9. "Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey : 2010-11" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
10. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Retrieved 2017-07-15.
11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2015-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "Zimbabwe's only white minster [sic] says insults against whites continue at top government level". Fox News. 2015-03-26.
13. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld - Zimbabwe: Dual citizenship". Refworld.
14. "Teens assaulted in police raid on nightclub". newzimbabwe.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-19.
15. Raeburn, Michael. We are everywhere: Narratives from Rhodesian guerillas. pp. 1–209.
16. "Zimbabwe Population growth rate". indexmundi.com.
17. Nelson, Harold. Zimbabwe: A Country Study. pp. 80–137.
18. "The People of Zimbabwe". Archived from the original on 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
19. Famighetti, Robert. The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1996. p. 837.
20. "The Land Act's Losers". postcolonialweb.org.
21. The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa, are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe. (CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE (final draft) Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine).
22. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2016-06-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
23. Mother Tongue: Interviews with Musaemura B. Zimunya and Solomon Mutswairo University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
24. "MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
25. The World Health Organization. "Annex Table 1 - Basic indicators for all Member States" (PDF). The World Health Report 2006.
26. Peta Thornycroft (2006-04-10). "In Zimbabwe, life ends before 40". Sydney Morning Herald. Harare. Retrieved 2006-04-10.
27. "United Nations Statistics Division". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
28. "Zimbabwe Population 2019", World Population Review, June 6, 2018
29. Uganda: People, CIA World Factbook, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
30. "Africa :: ZIMBABWE". CIA The World Factbook.
31. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2014-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
32. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2014-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document: "2007 edition".