Demographics of Senegal

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

About 70% of Senegal's population is rural. In rural areas, population density varies from about 77 per square kilometer (200/mile²) in the west-central region to 2 per square kilometer (5/mile²) in the arid eastern section. About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese and Vietnamese reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities. French is the official language but is used regularly only by the literate minority. Almost all Senegalese speak an indigenous language, of which Wolof has the largest usage. Many Senegalese live in Europe, particularly in France, Italy and Spain.

Population

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

According to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 12,434,000 in 2010, compared to only 2,416,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 43.7%, 53.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.4% was 65 years or older .^[1]

	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	2,416	41.6	55.0	3.4
1955	2,684	41.5	55.6	2.9
1960	3,048	41.9	55.5	2.6
1965	3,505	43.0	54.6	2.4
1970	4,096	44.3	53.5	2.3
1975	4,786	45.3	52.5	2.2
1980	5,414	47.2	50.5	2.2
1985	6,232	47.7	50.0	2.3
1990	7,242	47.2	50.4	2.4
1995	8,369	46.2	51.3	2.5
2000	9,506	45.4	52.1	2.5
2005	10,872	44.4	53.1	2.5
2010	12,434	43.7	53.9	2.4

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Senegal not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[1]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	115,000	68,000	47,000	45.2	26.8	18.4	6.05	131
1955-1960	137,000	73,000	64,000	47.7	25.4	22.3	6.42	128
1960-1965	163,000	82,000	81,000	49.7	24.9	24.8	6.85	123
1965-1970	193,000	92,000	101,000	50.8	24.2	26.6	7.25	117
1970-1975	224,000	100,000	125,000	50.5	22.4	28.1	7.45	108
1975-1980	251,000	99,000	153,000	49.3	19.3	29.9	7.50	99
1980-1985	274,000	93,000	181,000	47.1	16.0	31.0	7.28	89
1985-1990	303,000	92,000	211,000	45.0	13.6	31.4	6.90	80
1990-1995	335,000	98,000	237,000	42.9	12.5	30.3	6.36	72
1995-2000	365,000	104,000	261,000	40.8	11.6	29.2	5.77	66
2000-2005	405,000	108,000	297,000	39.8	10.6	29.2	5.36	60
2005-2010	450,000	111,000	339,000	38.6	9.5	29.1	5.03	55
* 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)

Births and deaths ^[2]

Year	Population (x1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		498 714	138 182	360 532	41,0	11,4	29,6	4,91
2010		456 212	132 218	323 994	36,5	10,6	25,9	4,86
2011		464 464	134 450	330 014	36,2	10,5	25,7
2012		471 629	135 468	336 161	35,7	10,3	25,5
2013	12 874	478 898	136 460	342 438	35,3	10,1	25,2

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[3]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1980-82		7,4		6,3		7,9
1983-85		6,6		5,4		7,1
1992-93	40,8	6,03 (5,1)	37,4	5,06 (3,8)	42,9	6,74 (5,9)
1997	37	5,67 (4,6)	31	4,29 (3,2)	42	6,74 (5,6)
1999	36	5,2	30	3,9	40	6,1
2005	39,3	5,3 (4,5)	33,4	4,1 (3,3)	44,0	6,4 (5,7)
2008-2009	37,3	4,9	33,4	4,0	40,1	5,8
2010-2011	37,4	5,0 (3,2)	32,3	3,9 (2,6)	41,6	6,0 (3,8)
2012-2013	38,6	5,3	32,9	4,1	42,7	6,3
2014	37,6	5,0 (3,7)	33,4	4,0 (3,1)	41,6	6,3 (4,4)
2015	35.7	4.9 (4.3)	28.1	3.5 (3.1)	41.5	6.1 (5.4)

Ethnic groups^[4]

• Wolof 38.7%, Pular 26.5%, Serer 15%, Mandinka 4.2%, Jola 4%, Soninke 2.3%, Other 9.3% (includes Europeans and persons of Lebanese descent) (2010-11 est.)

Population of Senegal according to ethnic group in 1976 and 1988

Ethnic group	census 1976 [5]		census 1988[6]
	Number	%	Number	%
Wolof	2,001,416	41.0	2,890,402	42.7
Serer	716,919	14.7	1,009,921	14.9
Peul	605,584	12.4	978,366	14.4
Toucouleur	528,490	10.8	631,892	9.3
Diola	265,353	5.4	357,672	5.3
Mandingue	179,050	3.7	245,651	3.6
Soce			42,751	0.6
Sarakhole	84,102	1.7	113,184	1.7
Bambara	65,096	1.3	91,071	1.3
Maure	59,784	1.2	67,726	1.0
Mandjaag	41,628	0.9	66,605	1.0
Lebou	94,837	1.9	56,758	0.8
Balant	33,915	0.7	54,398	0.8
Malinke	202,472	4.1	28,643	0.4
Mancagne			23,180	0.3
Laobe			18,250	0.3
Bassari			6,195	0.1
Khassonke			1,752	0.0
Coniagui			1,119	0.0
Fula			108	0.0
Other			87,773	1.3
Total	4,879,103		6,773,417

Languages

French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Jola, Mandinka

Religion^[4]

• Islam 95.4% (mostly Sufi)
• Christian 4.2% (mostly Roman Catholic)
• Animist 0.4%

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[7]

Gender ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/females

Total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population

59.78 years (2011 est.)

59.25 years (2006 est.)

Male

57.85 years (2011 est.)

57.7 years (2006 est.)

Female

61.77 years (2011 est.)

60.85 years (2006 est.)

Nationality

noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese

Literacy

Total population: 39.3%

Male: 51.1%

Female: 29.2% (2002 est.)

See also

• Senegal

References

1. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
2. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
3. http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/dhs#_r=&collection=&country=&dtype=&from=1890&page=14&ps=&sk=&sort_by=nation&sort_order=&to=2014&topic=&view=s&vk=
4. "Africa :: SENEGAL". CIA The World Factbook.
5. Rapport National de Présentation du Recensement Général de la Population 1976 (RGP I)
6. UN Demographic Yearbooks
7. The World Factbook - Senegal