Demographics of Laos

A street market in Luang Prabang.

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

Laos' population was estimated at about 6.48 million in July 2011, dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane Prefecture, which includes Vientiane, the capital and largest city of the country, had about 569,000 residents in 1999. The country's population density is 23.4/km².

In March 2005, the total population was 5.62 million (2.82 million females, 2.80 million males) in the 2005 census, an increase of 1.047 million since the previous 1995 census.^[1]

Overview

The demographic makeup of the population is uncertain as the government divides the people into three groups according to the altitude at which they live, rather than according to ethnic origin. The lowland Lao (Lao Loum) account for 68%, upland Lao (Lao Theung) for 22%, and the highland Lao (Lao Soung, including the Hmong and the Yao) for 9%. Ethnic Vietnamese constitutes about 2% of the population.

Ethnic Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants and politically and culturally dominant group, make up the bulk of the Lao Loum and around 60% of the total population. The Lao are a branch of the Tai people who began migrating southward from China in the first millennium A.D. In the north, there are mountain tribes of Miao–Yao, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman Hmong, Yao, Akha, and Lahu who migrated into the region in the 19th century. Collectively, they are known as Lao Sung or highland Lao.

In the central and southern mountains, Mon–Khmer tribes known as Lao Theung or upland Lao, predominate. Some Vietnamese and Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many left in two waves — after independence in the late 1940s and again after 1975.

The predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. Animism is common among the mountain tribes. Buddhism and spirit worship coexist easily. There is a small number of Christians and Muslims.

The official and dominant language is Lao, a tonal language of the Tai linguistic group. Midslope and highland Lao speak tribal languages. French, once common in government and commerce, has declined in use, while knowledge of English — the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — has increased in recent years.

With a median age of 19.3, Laos has the youngest population of Asia.

Demographics of Laos, number of inhabitants in thousands (FAO data, 2005)

Lao men drinking lauhai (in Lao) or bujkdong (in Khmuic), a type of Lao rice whiskey which is ancient khmuic rice beer.

A primary school in a village in northern rural Laos

Population

According to the 2010 Revision of the UN World Population Prospects,^[2] the population of Laos increased from 1.7 million in 1950 to 6.2 million in 2010. Until the year 2000 the proportion of children 0–14 years of age was over 40% of the total population. Due to decreasing fertility rates this proportion decreased to 34.5% in 2010. The proportion of elderly people is still very low (3.9%), although the proportion doubled between 1950 and 2010.

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	1,683	40.4	57.4	2.1
1955	1,897	41.4	56.2	2.4
1960	2,130	42.1	55.3	2.6
1965	2,391	42.2	54.9	2.9
1970	2 691	41.9	55.0	3.1
1975	3,042	42.1	54.7	3.2
1980	3,235	43.9	52.5	3.5
1985	3,648	44.0	52.4	3.6
1990	4,192	43.7	52.7	3.6
1995	4,795	43.6	52.8	3.6
2000	5,317	42.3	54.0	3.7
2005	5,753	39.1	57.1	3.8
2010	6,201	34.5	61.6	3.9

Structure of the population ^[3]

Structure of the population (01.03.2005) (Census) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 800 551	2 821 431	5 621 982	100
0-4	351 559	349 356	700 915	12,47
5-9	379 137	370 071	749 208	13,33
10-14	391 785	375 371	767 156	13,65
15-19	323 729	323 540	647 269	11,51
20-24	253 926	261 371	515 297	9,17
25-29	211 279	218 330	429 609	7,64
30-34	176 515	183 480	359 995	6,40
35-39	164 415	165 362	329 777	5,87
40-44	132 335	133 532	265 867	4,73
45-49	113 869	113 298	227 167	4,04
50-54	86 770	91 210	177 980	3,17
55-59	62 691	65 640	128 331	2,28
60-64	50 006	55 008	105 014	1,87
65-69	38 289	41 251	79 540	1,41
70-74	27 652	31 927	59 579	1,06
75-79	17 964	19 208	37 172	0,66
80-84	10 402	12 180	22 582	0,40
85-89	4 631	5 697	10 328	0,18
90-94	1 964	2 781	4 745	0,08
95-99	982	1 393	2 375	0,04
100+	480	936	1 416	0,03
unknown	171	489	660	0,01

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	1 122 481	1 094 798	2 217 279	39,44
15-64	1 575 535	1 610 771	3 186 306	56,68
65+	102 364	115 373	217 737	3,87

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates - based on the results of the 2005 Population and Housing Census) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 337 780	3 341 118	6 678 899	100
0-4	485 412	466 533	951 949	14,25
5-9	408 807	398 740	807 547	12,09
10-14	359 236	353 901	713 140	10,68
15-19	379 515	366 895	746 413	11,18
20-24	352 504	342 161	694 664	10,40
25-29	271 288	276 339	547 624	8,20
30-34	214 239	222 247	436 485	6,54
35-39	178 309	185 900	364 211	5,45
40-44	159 916	165 404	325 324	4,87
45-49	144 355	146 599	290 954	4,36
50-54	114 786	117 321	232 108	3,48
55-59	92 398	96 389	188 784	2,83
60-64	63 875	70 467	134 345	2,01
65-69	43 599	49 189	92 790	1,39
70-74	30 776	36 125	66 897	1,00
75-79	19 283	22 873	42 153	0,63
80+	19 473	24 038	43 509	0,65

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	1 253 455	1 219 174	2 472 629	37,02
15-64	1 971 194	1 989 719	3 960 913	59,30
65+	113 131	132 225	245 356	3,67

Vital statistics

UN estimates ^[2]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR¹	CDR¹	NC¹	TFR¹	IMR¹
1950-1955	80,000	37,000	43,000	44.8	20.9	23.9	5.94	167.1
1955-1960	87,000	40,000	47,000	43.2	20.1	23.1	5.96	160.1
1960-1965	96,000	44,000	52,000	42.4	19.3	23.1	5.97	153.5
1965-1970	107,000	47,000	60,000	42.3	18.7	23.6	5.98	147.0
1970-1975	122,000	52,000	70,000	42.5	18.1	24.4	5.99	140.5
1975-1980	132,000	54,000	78,000	42.2	17.2	25.0	6.15	132.4
1980-1985	145,000	56,000	90,000	42.2	16.2	26.0	6.36	122.6
1985-1990	165,000	56,000	109,000	42.1	14.4	27.7	6.27	107.6
1990-1995	180,000	53,000	127,000	40.0	11.9	28.1	5.88	88.3
1995-2000	170,000	48,000	122,000	33.6	9.4	24.2	4.81	70.8
2000-2005	154,000	44,000	110,000	27.8	7.9	19.9	3.70	58.2
2005-2010	144,000	39,000	105,000	24.1	6.6	17.5	3.02	44.5
¹ CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[4]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2011-2012	25	3,2	20	2,2	26	3,6

Total fertility rate and other related statistics by province, as of 2011-2012:^[5]

Province	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49	Adolescent birth rate (Age-specific fertility rate for women age 15-19)
Vientiane Capital	2.0	3.8	3.1	37
Phongsaly	3.7	5.2	5.0	145
Luang Namtha	2.6	4.7	4.0	124
Oudomxay	3.6	3.9	5.7	138
Bokeo	3.6	4.9	5.0	149
Luang Prabang	3.1	5.4	5.3	95
Huaphan	3.8	5.9	5.9	137
Xayabury	2.2	3.8	3.8	83
Xieng Khuang	3.6	4.5	6.1	101
Vientiane Province	2.7	5.0	4.1	86
Borikhamxay	2.8	3.9	4.4	79
Khammouane	3.7	4.5	4.9	108
Savannakhet	3.5	6.3	5.4	99
Saravane	4.3	7.5	6.0	106
Sekong	4.5	6.9	5.9	107
Champasak	3.6	5.7	4.7	70
Attapeu	3.6	6.8	5.7	107

Ethnic groups

Further information: List of ethnic groups in Laos

In Luang Prabang, a young woman at the time of a Hmong Meeting Festival.

Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos.^[6] For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities.^[6] whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups.^[6]

The term ethnic minorities is used by some to classify the non-Lao ethnic groups, while the term indigenous peoples is not used by the Lao PDR.^[6] These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages.^[7]

Lao 55%, Khmu 11%, Hmong 8%, Vietnamese 2%, other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26% (2005 census).

**Population of Laos according to ethnic group in 1995, 2005, and 2015**
Ethnic group	Language family	census 1995^[8]		census 2005^[8]		census 2015
Ethnic group	Language family	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Lao	Tai-Kadai	2,403,891	52.5	3,067,005	54.6	3,427,665	53.2
Khmu	Mon-Khmer	500,957	11.0	613,893	10.9	708,412	11.0
Hmong	Hmong-Mien	315,465	6.9	415,946	8.0	595,028	9.2
Thai (Tai)	Tai-Kadai			215,254	3.8	201,576	3.1
Puthai (Phouthay)	Tai-Kadai	472,458	10.3	187,391	3.3	218,108	3.4
Lü (Lue)	Tai-Kadai	119,191	2.6	123,054	2.2	126,229	2.0
Katang	Mon-Khmer	95,440	2.1	118,276	2.1	144,255	2.2
Makong (So)	Mon-Khmer	92,321	2.0	117,872	2.1	163,285	2.5
Akha (Kor)	Tibeto-Burman	66,108	1.4	90,698	1.6	112,979	1.8
Yrou						56,411	0.9
Xuay (Juk/Suai?)	Mon-Khmer	45,498	1.0	42,834	0.8	46,592	0.7
Singsily (Phounoy)	Tibeto-Burman	35,635	0.8	37,447	0.7	39,192	0.6
Taoey (Ta-oy)	Mon-Khmer	30,876	0.7	32,177	0.6	45,991	0.7
Nhuane or Yuan (Khmu dialect)	Mon-Khmer	26,239	0.6	29,442	0.5
Iewmien (Yao) (Ewmien)	Hmong-Mien	22,665	0.5	27,449	0.5	32,400	0.5
Phong	Mon-Khmer	21,395	0.5	26,314	0.5	30,696	0.5
Brao (Larvae)	Mon-Khmer	17,544	0.4	22,772	0.4	26,010	0.4
Katu	Mon-Khmer	17,024	0.4	22,759	0.4	28,378	0.4
Oey (Oy or Oi)	Mon-Khmer	14,947	0.3	22,458	0.4	23,513	0.4
Pray (Prai)	Mon-Khmer	15,000 ^[7]	0.3	21,922	0.4	28,732	0.4
Lamed (Lamet)	Mon-Khmer	16,740	0.3	19,827	0.4	22,383	0.3
Lahu (Musir)	Tibeto-Burman	8,702	0.2	15,238	0.3
Lahou						19,187	0.3
Kriang (Ngae)	Mon-Khmer	12,189	0.3	12,879	0.2
Griang						16,807	0.2
Hor		8,900	0.2	10,437	0.2	12,098	0.2
Xingmoon (Puoc, Xingmoun)	Mon-Khmer	5,834	0.1	8,565	0.2	9,874	0.2
Jeng (Cheng)	Mon-Khmer	6,511	0.1	7,559	0.1	8,688	0.1
Nhahem (Nyaheun)	Mon-Khmer	5,152	0.1	6,785	0.1
Ngaheun						8,976	0.1
Kmer (Khmer)	Mon-Khmer	3,902	0.1	5,825	0.1	7,141	0.1
Toum (Hung)	Mon-Khmer	2,510	0.05	4,458	0.08	3,632	0.05
Xaek (Saek)	Tai-Kadai	2,745	0.06	3.733	0.07	3,841	0.05
Samtao	Mon-Khmer	2,213	0.05	3,533	0.06	3,417	0.05
Sila (Sida) (Syla)	Tibeto-Burman	1,772	0.04	2,939	0.05	3,151	0.05
Tri		20,906	0.5	2,668	0.05	37,446	0.6
Harak (Alak, Alack)	Mon-Khmer	16,594	0.4	2,128	0.04	25,430	0.4
Bid (Bit)	Mon-Khmer	1,509	0.03	1,691	0.03	2,372	0.04
Lolo	Tibeto-Burman	1,407	0.03	1,691	0.03	2,203	0.03
Pako (Pacoh)	Mon-Khmer	13,224	0.3	1,675	0.03	22,640	0.4
Lavy	Mon-Khmer	538	0.01	1,193	0.02	1,215	0.02
Yae	Mon-Khmer	8,013	0.2	1,057	0.02	11,452	0.2
Sadang (Sedang)	Mon-Khmer	786	0.02	938	0.02	898	0.01
Hanyi (Hayi)	Tibeto-Burman	1,122	0.02	848	0.02	741	0.01
Nguane		1,344	0.03	722	0.01
Ngoaun						27,779	0.4
Guan						886	0.01
Oedou (Ơ Đu)	Mon-Khmer			649	0.01	602	0.01
Yang	Tai-Kadai	4,630	0.1	616	0.01	5,843	0.1
Moy				534	0.01	789	0.01
Thin (Mal)	Mon-Khmer	23,193	0.51	514	0.01
Kree		739	0.02	495	0.01	1,067	0.02
Laven	Mon-Khmer	40,519	0.9
Talieng	Mon-Khmer	23,091	0.5
Trieng	Mon-Khmer					38,407	0.6
Kui	Mon-Khmer	6,268	0.1
Khir		1,639	0.04
Mone		217	0.00
Others & not stated		19,285	0.4	216,780	3.9
Total		4,574,848		5,621,982		6,446,690

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

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

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.39 years (2011 est.)
male: 60.50 years (2011 est.)
female: 64.36 years (2011 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian

Religions: Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (see Religion in Laos)

Languages: Lao (official), French, English, Vietnamese, and various ethnic languages

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 73%
male: 83%
female: 63% (2005 est.)

References

Sources

Ethnic groups in Laos by language family

Vietic	Bo Chut (May) Kinh/Vietnamese Krih Liha Maleng Muong Phong Phon Sung (Aheu) Thavung Tum

Lao-Tai	Lao Lu Phuan Phu Thai Saek Tai Daeng (Red Tai) Tai Dam (Black Tai) Tai Maen Tai Nüa

Mon–Khmer	Alak Bit Brau (Lavae) Bru Ca Tu Doi Htin Jeng Kaleung Kataang Keu Khang Khamu Kuy Lamet Laven Lavy Makong Mlabri Nghe Nyaheun O Du Oy Pacoh Samtao (Kiorr) Sedang Sou Talieng Ta Oi Xinh Mun (Puoc) Yae (Jeh)

Hmong–Mien	Hmong Lanten Yao

Tibeto-Burman	Akha Hani Kado Kaduo Lahu Phana' Phunoi Si La

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