Djibouti is a multiethnic country. As of 2018, it has a population of around 884,017 inhabitants[2][3]. Djibouti's population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century, increasing from about 69,589 in 1955 to around 869,099 by 2015.[4]
The ethnic composition of Djibouti is 56.2% Somali, 24.2% Afar, 15.6% Arabs, 6.675% Djibouti Arabs (indigenous), 4.525% Yemenis, 4.4% Omanis and 5% others. The Somali clan component is mainly composed of the Issa clan (Dir), followed by the Gadabuursi and the Isaaq.[5]
The remaining 5% of Djibouti's population primarily consists of Ethiopians and Europeans (French, Italian and Swedish). In addition, as of 2021, 4,000 American troops, 1,350 French troops, 600 Japanese troops, 400 Chinese troops, and an unknown number of German troops are stationed at various bases throughout Djibouti. Approximately 76% of local residents are urban dwellers; the remainder are pastoralists.[6] 40,000 people from Yemen live in Djibouti, accounting for 4.525% of its total population."Domestic abuse adds to Yemeni refugee women's woes in Djibouti".[7][8][9]
Djibouti is a multilingual nation.[6] The majority of local residents speak Somali (650,000 speakers in Djibouti city and Ali Sabieh) and Afar (300,000 speakers) as a first language. These languages are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups, respectively. Both languages belong to the larger Afroasiatic family. There are 2 official languages in Djibouti: Arabic and French.[10]
Arabic is of religious importance. In formal settings, it consists of Modern Standard Arabic. Colloquially, about 59,000 local residents speak the Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic dialect, also known as Djibouti Arabic. French serves as a statutory national language. It was inherited from the colonial period, and is the primary language of instruction. Around 17,000 Djiboutians speak it as a first language. Immigrant languages include Omani Arabic (38,900 speakers), Amharic (1,400 speakers), Greek (1,000 speakers) and Hindi (600 speakers).[10]
According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[2][3], the total population was 1,105,557 in 2021 compared to 62,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 35.8%, 60.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.3% was 65 years or older.[4]
Total population
Population aged 0–14 (%)
Population aged 15–64 (%)
Population aged 65+ (%)
1950
62 000
46.8
51.2
2.0
1955
70 000
46.0
52.0
2.0
1960
85 000
45.4
52.5
2.0
1965
117 000
44.9
53.0
2.0
1970
162 000
45.8
52.2
2.1
1975
224 000
45.9
52.0
2.1
1980
340 000
45.3
52.5
2.2
1985
403 000
44.6
53.1
2.3
1990
562 000
44.2
53.4
2.4
1995
627 000
43.4
54.1
2.5
2000
732 000
41.3
55.9
2.7
2005
808 000
38.5
58.5
3.0
2010
889 000
35.8
60.9
3.3
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 29.V.2009):[12]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
440 066
378 093
818 159
100
0–4
49 863
41 269
91 132
11.14
5–9
56 117
41 269
101 271
12.38
10–14
48 135
37 337
85 472
10.45
15–19
46 351
39 283
85 634
10.47
20–24
43 786
40 272
84 058
10.27
25–29
40 222
41 995
82 217
10.05
30–34
35 558
33 997
69 555
8.50
35–39
29 563
26 512
56 074
6.85
40–44
25 247
19 734
44 981
5.50
45–49
19 470
15 456
34 926
4.27
50–54
16 363
12 479
28 841
3.53
55–59
10 325
7 860
18 185
2.22
60–64
8 495
6 677
15 172
1.85
65+
10 572
10 069
20 641
2.52
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
154 115
119 875
273 990
33.49
15–64
275 379
248 149
523 528
63.99
65+
10 572
10 069
20 641
2.52
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021): [13]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
527 817
473 636
1 001 452
100
0–4
50 744
49 747
100 491
10.03
5–9
54 487
53 200
107 687
10.75
10–14
52 811
45 854
98 665
9.85
15–19
50 167
40 507
90 674
9.05
20–24
48 044
40 029
88 072
8.79
25–29
45 209
38 999
84 208
8.41
30–34
42 445
38 723
81 168
8.11
35–39
39 077
36 798
75 874
7.58
40–44
34 761
32 809
67 570
6.75
45–49
29 881
28 056
57 936
5.79
50–54
24 442
21 937
46 379
4.63
55–59
19 309
16 508
35 817
3.58
60–64
14 340
11 888
26 229
2.62
65-69
9 975
8 077
18 053
1.80
70-74
6 260
5 158
11 418
1.14
75-79
3 444
2 953
6 397
0.64
80+
2 421
2 393
4 814
0.48
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
158 042
148 801
306 843
30.64
15–64
347 675
306 254
653 929
65.30
65+
22 100
18 581
40 681
4.06
Projections
The following are UN medium variant projections; numbers are in thousands:[4]
2015 975
2020 1,065
2025 1,166
2030 1,262
2035 1,356
2040 1,447
2045 1,535
2050 1,619
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in Djibouti is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[4]
Period
Live births per year
Deaths per year
Natural change per year
CBR*
CDR*
NC*
TFR*
IMR*
1950-1955
3 000
2 000
1 000
50.0
28.3
21.7
7.80
222
1955-1960
4 000
2 000
2 000
50.7
25.7
25.0
7.80
203
1960-1965
5 000
2 000
3 000
51.2
23.8
27.4
7.80
185
1965-1970
7 000
3 000
4 000
50.3
21.6
28.6
7.60
169
1970-1975
9 000
4 000
5 000
47.8
19.4
28.4
7.20
154
1975-1980
13 000
5 000
8 000
45.2
17.4
27.8
6.80
141
1980-1985
16 000
6 000
11 000
44.0
15.5
28.6
6.60
125
1985-1990
21 000
7 000
14 000
43.1
14.5
28.6
6.40
117
1990-1995
24 000
8 000
16 000
40.1
13.4
26.7
5.85
109
1995-2000
23 000
8 000
15 000
34.4
12.2
22.2
5.11
100
2000-2005
24 000
9 000
15 000
31.2
11.3
19.9
4.52
91
2005-2010
25 000
9 000
16 000
29.4
10.5
18.9
3.95
82
* 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)
urban population: 78.4% of total population (2022)
rate of urbanization: 1.56% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 77.8% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanization: 1.67% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major cities - population
DJIBOUTI (capital) 562,000 (2018)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.71 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.85 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2014 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 65.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 203rd
male: 62.72 years
female: 67.96 years (2022 est.)
total population: 64 years (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 191st
male: 61.4 years (2018 est.)
female: 66.6 years (2018 est.)
Total population: 62.4 years
Male: 59.93 years
Female: 64.94 years (2014 est.)
HIV/AIDS
adult prevalence rate: 1.2% (2012 est.)
people living with HIV/AIDS: 7,700 (2012 est.)
deaths: 690 (2012 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Djibouti is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
^DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM (1967). "French Somaliland"(PDF). Intelligence Memorandum. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 23, 2017.
