This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. Currently, 24,182,736 Algerians live in urban area, about 1.5 million nomads live in the Saharan area.
99% of the population is classified ethnically as Arab-Berber[1] and religiously as Sunni Muslim 96%, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis 1.3% from the M'Zab valley (See Islam in Algeria). A mostly foreign Roman Catholic community also about Christians especially Protestant evangelic and almost 500 Jewish, most of them live in Bejaia. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.
Algeria's educational system has grown rapidly since 1962; in the last 12 years, attendance has doubled to more than 5 million students. Education is free and compulsory to age 16. Despite government allocation of substantial educational resources, population pressures and a serious shortage of teachers have severely strained the system, as have terrorist attacks against the educational infrastructure during the 1990s. Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in French-speaking areas of France and Canada. In 2000, the government launched a major review of the country's educational system.
Housing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the UNDP, Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1901 | 4,739,300 | — |
1906 | 5,231,700 | +2.00% |
1911 | 5,563,800 | +1.24% |
1921 | 5,804,200 | +0.42% |
1926 | 6,066,400 | +0.89% |
1931 | 6,553,500 | +1.56% |
1936 | 7,234,700 | +2.00% |
1948 | 8,681,800 | +1.53% |
2010 | 35,600,000 | +2.30% |
2011 | 36,300,000 | +1.97% |
2012 | 37,100,000 | +2.20% |
2013 | 37,900,000 | +2.16% |
Source: Office National des Statistiques (ONS)[2]
Figures from National Office of Statistics Algeria[3] and United Nations Demographic Yearbook[4] :
Average population (x 1000) (1st January) | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) | Total fertility rate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | 13 123 | 667 000 | 50.8 | |||||
1967 | 13 497 | 630 000 | 46.7 | |||||
1968 | 13 887 | 618 000 | 44.5 | |||||
1969 | 14 287 | 665 000 | 46.5 | |||||
1970 | 14 691 | 689 000 | 46.9 | |||||
1971 | 15 098 | 687 000 | 45.5 | |||||
1972 | 15 512 | 697 000 | 44.9 | |||||
1973 | 15 936 | 717 000 | 45.0 | |||||
1974 | 16 375 | 722 000 | 44.1 | |||||
1975 | 16 834 | 738 000 | 43.8 | |||||
1976 | 17 311 | 751 000 | 43.4 | |||||
1977 | 17 809 | 728 000 | 40.9 | |||||
1978 | 18 331 | 767 000 | 41.9 | |||||
1979 | 18 885 | 797 000 | 42.2 | |||||
1980 | 19 475 | 819 000 | 42.0 | |||||
1981 | 20 104 | 835 000 | 41.5 | |||||
1982 | 20 767 | 852 000 | 41.0 | |||||
1983 | 21 453 | 812 000 | 37.9 | |||||
1984 | 22 150 | 850 000 | 38.4 | |||||
1985 | 22 847 | 864 000 | 37.8 | |||||
1986 | 23 539 | 781 000 | 33.2 | |||||
1987 | 24 226 | 755 000 | 31.2 | |||||
1988 | 24 905 | 806 000 | 32.4 | |||||
1989 | 25 577 | 755 000 | 153 000 | 602 000 | 29.5 | |||
1990 | 25 022 | 775 000 | 151 000 | 624 000 | 30.94 | 6.03 | 24.91 | 4.50 |
1991 | 25 643 | 773 000 | 155 000 | 618 000 | 30.1 | 6.0 | 24.1 | |
1992 | 26 271 | 799 000 | 160 000 | 639 000 | 30.4 | 6.1 | 24.3 | |
1993 | 26 894 | 775 000 | 168 000 | 607 000 | 28.8 | 6.2 | 22.6 | |
1994 | 27 496 | 776 000 | 180 000 | 596 000 | 28.2 | 6.5 | 21.7 | |
1995 | 28 060 | 711 000 | 180 000 | 531 000 | 25.3 | 6.4 | 18.9 | |
1996 | 28 566 | 654 000 | 172 000 | 482 000 | 22.9 | 6.0 | 16.9 | |
1997 | 29 045 | 654 000 | 178 000 | 476 000 | 22.5 | 6.1 | 16.4 | |
1998 | 29 507 | 607 000 | 144 000 | 463 000 | 20.6 | 4.9 | 15.7 | |
1999 | 29 965 | 593 643 | 141 000 | 452 643 | 19.8 | 4.7 | 15.1 | |
2000 | 30 416 | 588 628 | 140 000 | 448 628 | 19.36 | 4.59 | 14.77 | |
2001 | 30 879 | 618 380 | 141 000 | 477 380 | 20.0 | 4.6 | 15.5 | |
2002 | 31 357 | 616 963 | 138 000 | 478 963 | 19.7 | 4.4 | 15.3 | |
2003 | 31 848 | 649 000 | 145 000 | 504 000 | 20.4 | 4.6 | 15.8 | |
2004 | 32 364 | 669 000 | 141 000 | 528 000 | 20.7 | 4.4 | 16.3 | |
2005 | 32 906 | 703 000 | 147 000 | 556 000 | 21.4 | 4.5 | 16.9 | |
2006 | 33 481 | 739 000 | 144 000 | 595 000 | 22.1 | 4.3 | 17.8 | |
2007 | 34 096 | 783 000 | 149 000 | 634 000 | 23.0 | 4.4 | 18.6 | |
2008 | 34 591 | 817 000 | 153 000 | 664 000 | 23.62 | 4.42 | 19.2 | 2.81 |
2009 | 35 268 | 849 000 | 159 000 | 690 000 | 24.07 | 4.51 | 19.56 | 2.84 |
2010 | 35 978 | 888 000 | 157 000 | 731 000 | 24.68 | 4.37 | 20.31 | 2.87 |
2011 | 36 717 | 910 000 | 162 000 | 748 000 | 24.78 | 4.41 | 20.37 | 2.87 |
2012 | 37 495 | 978 000 | 170 000 | 808 000 | 26.08 | 4.53 | 21.55 | 3.02 |
2013 | 38 297 | 963 000 | 168 000 | 795 000 | 25.14 | 4.39 | 20.75 | 2.93 |
2014[5] | 39 114 | 1014 000 | 174 000 | 840 000 | 25.93 | 4.44 | 21.49 | 3.03 |
2015 | 39 500 |
Age Group | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|
00-04 | 565 | 534 | 1099 |
05-09 | 435 | 413 | 849 |
10-14 | 422 | 404 | 826 |
15-19 | 484 | 465 | 949 |
20-24 | 522 | 509 | 1031 |
25-29 | 512 | 504 | 1016 |
30-34 | 439 | 430 | 869 |
35-39 | 351 | 350 | 701 |
40-44 | 303 | 306 | 609 |
45-49 | 255 | 256 | 511 |
50-54 | 207 | 205 | 412 |
55-59 | 172 | 165 | 337 |
60-64 | 125 | 120 | 245 |
65-69 | 86 | 88 | 174 |
70-74 | 75 | 77 | 152 |
75-79 | 55 | 57 | 111 |
80+ | 54 | 55 | 109 |
TOTAL | 5061 | 4939 | 10 000 |
Age group | Male | Female | Percent |
---|---|---|---|
0-14 | 14,22 | 13,51 | 27,74 |
15-64 | 33,70 | 33,10 | 66,80 |
65+ | 2,70 | 2,77 | 5,46 |
Age group | Male | Female | Total |
---|---|---|---|
00-04 | 577 | 546 | 1123 |
05-09 | 447 | 423 | 870 |
10-14 | 405 | 388 | 792 |
15-19 | 463 | 445 | 907 |
20-24 | 506 | 492 | 997 |
25-29 | 507 | 500 | 1007 |
30-34 | 449 | 439 | 888 |
35-39 | 356 | 353 | 709 |
40-44 | 304 | 307 | 612 |
45-49 | 260 | 261 | 520 |
50-54 | 209 | 208 | 418 |
55-59 | 174 | 169 | 342 |
60-64 | 133 | 127 | 259 |
65-69 | 86 | 88 | 174 |
70-74 | 75 | 77 | 152 |
75-79 | 55 | 58 | 113 |
80-84 | 35 | 36 | 72 |
85+ | 21 | 22 | 43 |
TOTAL | 5061 | 4939 | 10 000 |
Age group | Male | Female | Percent |
---|---|---|---|
0-14 | 14,29 | 13,57 | 27,85 |
15-64 | 33,61 | 33,01 | 66,59 |
65+ | 2,72 | 2,81 | 5,54 |
Population structure by age and sex (10 000) (01/07/2014)
Age group | Male | Female | Total |
---|---|---|---|
00-04 | 595 | 563 | 1158 |
05-09 | 478 | 450 | 928 |
10-14 | 386 | 369 | 755 |
15-19 | 419 | 402 | 821 |
20-24 | 471 | 455 | 926 |
25-29 | 491 | 484 | 975 |
30-34 | 459 | 451 | 910 |
35-39 | 371 | 366 | 737 |
40-44 | 308 | 310 | 619 |
45-49 | 266 | 268 | 534 |
50-54 | 216 | 217 | 433 |
55-59 | 177 | 175 | 353 |
60-64 | 143 | 137 | 280 |
65-69 | 92 | 93 | 185 |
70-74 | 73 | 76 | 149 |
75-79 | 55 | 59 | 115 |
80-84 | 37 | 39 | 76 |
85+ | 24 | 24 | 48 |
TOTAL | 5062 | 4938 | 10 000 |
Age group | Male | Female | Percent |
---|---|---|---|
0-14 | 14,59 | 13,82 | 28,41 |
15-64 | 33,22 | 32,65 | 65,87 |
65+ | 2,81 | 2,91 | 5,72 |
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[6]
Nationality
Median age
Net migration rate
Urbanization
Sex ratio
Infant mortality rate
Life expectancy at birth
HIV/AIDS
Major infectious diseases
Main article: Languages of Algeria |
Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write
Population | Nb | E1a | E1b1a | E1b1b1a | E1b1b1b | E1b1b1c | F | K | J1 | J2 | R1a | R1b | Q | Study |
1 Oran | 102 | 0 | 7.85% | 5.90% | 45.10% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50% | 4.90% | 1% | 11.80% | 1% | Robino et al. (2008)[7] |
2 Algiers | 35 | 2.85% | 0 | 11.40% | 42.85% | 0 | 11.80% | 2.85% | 22.85% | 5.70% | 0 | 0 | 0 | Arredi et al. (2004)[8] |
3 Tizi Ouzou | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47.35% | 10.50% | 10.50% | 0 | 15.80% | 0 | 0 | 15.80% | 0 | Arredi et al. (2004) |
Total | 156 | 0.65% | 5.10% | 6.40% | 44.90% | 1.30% | 9.58% | 0.65% | 21.80% | 4.50% | 0.65% | 9.60% | 0.65% |
In a recent genetic study by Semino et al. (2004), Algerian Arabs and Berbers were found to have more genetic similarities than was once believed.[9] This led scientists to conclude that the North African population was mainly Berber in origin and that the population had been 'Arabised', by the migration of Near-Eastener people.
The Haplogroup J, common marker in Middle-Eastern population is found at near 30% in Algeria, which is one of the most common haplogroup of the country along with E1b1b .
Recent studies on the common J1 Y chromosome suggest it arrived over ten thousand years ago in North Africa, and M81/E3b2 is a Y chromosome specific to North African ancestry, dating to the Neolithic. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East",[10]