The demographics of Mozambique describes the condition and overview of Mozambique's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.
Population
Demographics of Mozambique, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022; Number of inhabitants in millions.
According to the 2022 revision of the world factbook the total population was 31,693,239 in 2022.[1] The proportion of children below the age of 14 in 2020 was 45.57%, 51.5% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.93% was 65 years or older.[1][2] A population census took place in 2017, and the preliminary results indicate a population of 28 861 863 inhabitants.[3]
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data refer to national projections based on 2007 census.):[4]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
14 501 196
15 565 452
30 066 648
100
0–4
2 315 310
2 295 586
4 610 896
15.34
5–9
2 487 720
2 531 664
5 019 384
16.69
10–14
2 076 198
2 067 546
4 143 744
13.78
15–19
1 594 940
1 630 074
3 225 014
10.73
20–24
1 264 746
1 481 775
2 746 521
9.13
25–29
1 000 516
1 222 754
2 223 270
7.39
30–34
802 315
906 767
1 709 082
5.68
35–39
673 119
774 993
1 448 112
4.82
40–44
574 984
660 820
1 235 804
4.11
45–49
454 062
504 057
958 119
3.19
50–54
343 740
397 999
741 739
2.47
55–59
264 107
302 253
566 360
1.88
60–64
203 386
229 467
432 853
1.44
65-69
159 568
188 765
348 333
1.16
70-74
109 258
134 617
243 875
0.81
75-79
69 868
89 298
159 166
0.53
80+
107 359
147 017
254 376
0.85
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
6 879 228
6 894 796
13 774 024
45.81
15–64
7 175 915
8 110 959
15 286 874
50.84
65+
446 053
559 697
1 005 750
3.35
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events is in Mozambique not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.[5]
Mozambique's major ethnic groups encompass numerous subgroups with diverse languages, dialects, cultures, and histories. Many are linked to similar ethnic groups living in inland countries.
The estimated 4 million Makua are the largest ethnic group of the country and are dominant in the northern part of the country — the Sena and Shona (mostly Ndau and Manyika) are prominent in the Zambezi valley, and the Shangaan (Tsonga) dominate in southern Mozambique. Other groups include Makonde, Yao, Swahili, Tonga, Chopi, and Nguni (including Zulu). The country is also home to a growing number of white residents, most with Portuguese ancestry.[11] During colonial rule, European residents hailed from every Mozambican province, and at the time of independence the total population was estimated at around 360,000. Most vacated the region after independence in 1975, emigrating to Portugal as retornados. There is also a larger mestiço minority with mixed African and Portuguese heritage. The remaining non-Blacks in Mozambique are primarily Indian Asiatics, who have arrived from Pakistan, Portuguese India, and numerous Arab countries.[citation needed] There are various estimates for the size of Mozambique's Chinese community, ranging from 1,500 to 12,000 as of 2007[update].[12][13]
Portuguese is the official and most widely spoken language of the nation, but in 2017 only 47.4% of Mozambique's population speak Portuguese as either their first or second language, and only 16.6% speak Portuguese as their first language.[16] Arabs, Chinese, and Indians speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese Creoles of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language. Most educated Mozambicans speak English, which is used in schools and business as second or third language.
Despite the influence of Islamic coastal traders and European colonizers, the people of Mozambique have largely retained an indigenous culture based on smallscale agriculture. Mozambique's most highly developed art forms have been wood sculpture, for which the Makonde in northern Mozambique are particularly renowned, and dance. The middle and upper classes continue to be heavily influenced by the Portuguese colonial and linguistic heritage.
Education and health
Under Portugal, educational opportunities for poor Mozambicans were limited; 93% of the Bantu population was illiterate, and many could not speak Portuguese. In fact, most of today's political leaders were educated in missionary schools. After independence, the government placed a high priority on expanding education, which reduced the illiteracy rate to about two-thirds as primary school enrollment increased. Unfortunately, in recent years school construction and teacher training enrollments have not kept up with population increases. With post-war enrollments reaching all-time highs, the quality of education has suffered. As a member of Commonwealth of Nations, most urban Mozambicans are required to learn English starting high-school.
Roman Catholic 27.2%, Muslim 18.9%, Zionist Christian 15.6%, Evangelical/Pentecostal 15.3%, Anglican 1.7%, other 4.8%, none 13.9%, unspecified 2.5% (2017 est.)
total population: 57.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 224th
male: 55.76 years
female: 58.49 years (2022 est.)
total population: 54.1 years
male: 53.3 years
female: 54.9 years (2018 est.)
HIV/AIDS — people living with HIV/AIDS: 2.1 million (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS — deaths: 70,000 (2017 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mozambique 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, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
Nationality
noun:
Mozambican(s)
adjective:
Mozambican
Ethnic groups
Indigenous tribal groups (including the Shangana, Chokwe, Manyika, Sena, Makua, Ndau, among others) make up 98.61% of Mozambique's total population. People of mixed race are the largest minority, totaling 0.84% from the remaining figure, while Portuguese Mozambicans and Mozambicans of Indian descent represent 0.36% and 0.2% of the population respectively . There are noteworthy Chinese and Arab communities.
Portuguese language (official)
Emakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)
Education expenditures
6.2% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 29th
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
total population: 60.7%
male: 72.6%
female: 50.3% (2017)
total population: 56% (2015 est.)
male: 70.8% (2015 est.)
female: 43.1% (2015 est.)
total population: 47.8% (2003 est.), 40.1% (1995 est.)
male: 63.5% (2003 est.), 57.7% (1995 est.)
female: 32.7% (2003 est.), 23.4% (1995 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
