title: Demographics of Ivory Coast
text: Demographic features of the population of Ivory Coast include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
  
  Population
  
  According to  the total population was  in , compared to only 2 630 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.9%, 55.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.8% was 65 years or older
  .
  
  Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Based on the results of the 2014 Population Census.):
  
  Population Growth:
  1.88% (2016 est.)
  
  Vital statistics
  Registration of vital events in the Ivory Coast is not complete. The website Our World in Data  prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.
  
  Fertility and Births
  Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
  
  Fertility data as of 2011-2012 (DHS Program):
  
  Ethnic groups
  
   
  Ivory Coast has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Southern Mandé (west), Northern Mandé (northwest), Sénoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast). The Baoulés, in the Akan division, probably comprise the largest single subgroup with 15%-20% of the population. They are based in the central region around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The Bétés in the Krou division, the Sénoufos in the north, and the Malinkés in the northwest and the cities are the next largest groups, with 10%-15% of the national population. Most of the principal divisions have a significant presence in neighboring countries.
  
  Of the more than 5 million non-Ivorian Africans living in Ivory Coast, one-third to one-half are from Burkina Faso; the rest are from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania. The non-African expatriate community includes roughly 50,000 French (this number may be inaccurate due to the evacuation of roughly 8,000 Frenchmen in November 2004) and possibly 40,000 Lebanese. The number of elementary school-aged children attending classes increased from 22% in 1960 to 67% in 1995.
  
  Languages
  French is the official language, while there are 60 living indigenous languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The Dioula dialect of Bambara is the most widely spoken one. Other language groups include the Gur languages, the Senufo languages, the Kru languages (including the Bété languages, Dida, Nyabwa, Wè, and Western Krahn), and the Kwa languages (including Akan, Anyin, and Baoulé).
  
  Religion
  The economic development and relative prosperity of Ivory Coast fostered huge demographic shifts during the 20th century. "In 1922, an estimated 100,000 out of 1.6 million (or 6 percent) of people in Côte d'Ivoire were Muslims. By contrast, at independence (in 1960), their share of the population had increased rapidly, and Muslims were moving southward to the cocoa-producing areas and the southern cities. By 1998, [...], Muslims constituted a majority in the north of the country, and approximately 38.6 percent of the total population. This was a significantly larger population than the next largest religious group, Christians, who constituted approximately 29.1 percent of the total." In earlier decades, this shift was mainly due to large-scale immigration from neighboring countries of the interior, that has been going on since colonial times and continued to be promoted during the Houphouet-Boigny era. Since the 1990s, the widening fertility gap between different religious groups has continued to tilt the demographic balance in favor of Muslims although immigration has become less important.
  
  Ivorian diaspora
  The table below shows the number of people born in Ivory Coast who have migrated to OECD countries only (the table only includes communities consisting of at least 1,000 members).
  
  Other demographic statistics 
  Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.
  
  One birth every 33 seconds	
  One death every 2 minutes	
  One net migrant every 360 minutes	
  Net gain of one person every 46 seconds
  
  The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.
  
  Population
  28,713,423 (2022 est.)
  26,260,582 (July 2018 est.)
  21,058,798 (2010 est.)
  
  Age structure
  
  0-14 years: 38.53% (male 5,311,971/female 5,276,219)
  15-24 years: 20.21% (male 2,774,374/female 2,779,012)
  25-54 years: 34.88% (male 4,866,957/female 4,719,286)
  55-64 years: 3.53% (male 494,000/female 476,060)
  65 years and over: 2.85% (2020 est.) (male 349,822/female 433,385)
  
  0-14 years: 39.59% (male 5,213,630 /female 5,182,872)
  15-24 years: 19.91% (male 2,613,772 /female 2,615,680)
  25-54 years: 34.25% (male 4,577,394 /female 4,416,408)
  55-64 years: 3.47% (male 460,048 /female 451,604)
  65 years and over: 2.78% (male 325,510 /female 403,664) (2018 est.)
  
  total: 19.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 192nd
  male: 20 years 
  female: 19.8 years (2018 est.)
  
  Birth rate
  28.3 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th
  30.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th
  
  Death rate
  7.6 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 105th
  8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 80th
  
  Total fertility rate
  3.53 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 37th
  3.83 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th
  
  Population growth rate
  2.19% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th
  2.3% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd
  
  Median age
  total: 20.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 190th
  male: 20.3 years
  female: 20.3 years (2020 est.)
  
  Mother's mean age at first birth
  19.6 years (2011/12 est.)
  note: median age at first birth among women 20-49
  
  Contraceptive prevalence rate
  23.3% (2018)
  15.5% (2016)
  
  Net migration rate
  1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 62nd
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 79th
  
  Sex ratio
  
  Life expectancy at birth
  total population: 62.26 years. Country comparison to the world: 212nd
  male: 60.07 years
  female: 64.52 years (2022 est.)
  
  total population: 60.1 years (2018 est.)
  male: 58 years (2018 est.)
  female: 62.4 years (2018 est.)
  
  Dependency ratios
  total dependency ratio: 83.8 (2015 est.)
  youth dependency ratio: 78.5 (2015 est.)
  elderly dependency ratio: 5.3 (2015 est.)
  potential support ratio: 18.9 (2015 est.)
  
  Urbanization
  urban population: 52.7% of total population (2022)
  rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.)
  
  urban population: 50.8% of total population (2018)
  rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)
  
  Religions
  Muslim 42.9%, Catholic 17.2%, Evangelical 11.8%, Methodist 1.7%, other Christian 3.2%, animist 3.6%, other religion 0.5%, none 19.1% (2014 est.)
  note: the majority of foreign migrant workers are Muslim (72.7%) and Christian (17.7%)
  
  HIV/AIDS
  adult prevalence rate: 2.8% (2017 est.)
  people living with HIV/AIDS: 500,000 (2017 est.)
  deaths: 24,000 (2017 est.)
  
  Major infectious diseases
  
  Note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
  
  Nationality
  Noun and adjective: Ivorian (Ivoirian)
  
  Ethnic groups
  
  Education expenditures
  3.7% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 112nd
  
  Literacy
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
  
  total population: 89.9%
  male: 93.1%
  female: 86.7% (2019)
  
  total population: 47.2% (2018 est.)
  male: 53.7% (2018 est.)
  female: 40.5% (2018 est.)
  
  School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
  total: 10 years
  male: 11 years
  female: 10 years (2019)
  
  Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
  total: 3.9% (2016 est.)
  male: 2.8% (2016 est.)
  female: 5.1% (2016 est.)
  
  Major infectious diseases
  degree of risk: very high (2020)
  food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
  vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
  water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
  animal contact diseases: rabies
  respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
  
  See also
  French people in Ivory Coast
  
  References
  
   
  Society of Ivory Coast