Demographics of the Republic of the Congo

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Demographics of Republic of the Congo
Population pyramid of the Republic of the Congo in 2020
Population5,835,806 (2021 est.)
Growth rate2.34% (2022 est.)
Birth rate31.82 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate8.38 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy62.1 years
 • male60.65 years
 • female63.61 years
Fertility rate4.36 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate47.93 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years41.57%
65 and over3.2%
Sex ratio
Total1.01 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.03 male(s)/female
Under 151.02 male(s)/female
65 and over0.66 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityCongolese
Language
OfficialFrench

Demographic features of the population of the Republic of the Congo include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The Republic of the Congo's sparse population is concentrated in the southwestern portion of the country, leaving the vast areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. Thus, Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa, with 85% of its total population living in a few urban areas, namely in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or one of the small cities or villages lining the 534-kilometre (332 mi) railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined rapidly in recent years, leaving rural economies dependent on the government for support and subsistence. Before the 1997 war, about 15,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French. Presently, only about 9,500 remain. Pygmies make up 2% of Congo's population.[1]

Population[edit]

Population of the Republic of the Congo, Data of FAO, year 2005

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[2][3] the total population was 5,835,806 in 2021, compared to only 808 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.6%, 55.7% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.7% was 65 years or older .[4]

Total population Population aged 0–14 (%) Population aged 15–64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 808 000 40.1 56.4 3.5
1955 899 000 40.5 55.9 3.6
1960 1 014 000 41.4 55.0 3.7
1965 1 158 000 42.5 53.7 3.8
1970 1 335 000 43.5 52.7 3.8
1975 1 555 000 44.2 52.0 3.8
1980 1 798 000 44.8 51.4 3.8
1985 2 081 000 44.6 51.7 3.7
1990 2 389 000 43.7 52.5 3.7
1995 2 733 000 42.5 53.7 3.7
2000 3 136 000 41.5 54.7 3.7
2005 3 533 000 41.3 55.0 3.7
2010 4 043 000 40.6 55.7 3.7

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2009): [5]

Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 1 891 558 1 946 680 3 838 238 100
0–4 294 305 292 273 586 578 15.28
5–9 238 682 237 182 475 864 12.40
10–14 208 162 208 912 417 074 10.87
15–19 186 405 196 268 382 673 9.97
20–24 167 519 191 226 358 745 9.35
25–29 160 897 178 236 339 133 8.84
30–34 152 642 151 367 304 009 7.92
35–39 131 794 123 203 254 997 6.64
40–44 103 248 95 346 198 594 5.17
45–49 76 921 71 877 148 798 3.88
50–54 54 925 56 887 111 812 2.91
55–59 38 051 42 791 80 842 2.11
60–64 27 592 32 009 59 601 1.55
65-69 20 879 25 827 46 706 1.22
70-74 14 954 20 007 34 961 0.91
75-79 8 820 13 048 21 868 0.57
80+ 5 762 10 221 15 983 0.42
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 741 149 738 367 1 479 516 38.55
15–64 1 099 994 1 139 210 2 239 204 58.34
65+ 50 415 69 103 119 518 3.11

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020): [6]

Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 2 693 804 2 774 818 5 468 622 100
0–4 411 671 412 877 824 548 15.08
5–9 340 319 337 291 677 610 12.39
10–14 303 346 306 542 609 889 11.15
15–19 271 095 289 989 561 084 10.26
20–24 243 060 282 727 525 788 9.61
25–29 241 223 253 353 494 576 9.04
30–34 218 257 209 888 428 145 7.83
35–39 183 437 169 496 352 933 6.45
40–44 138 775 128 121 266 896 4.88
45–49 104 065 98 609 202 673 3.71
50–54 72 724 79 083 151 807 2.78
55–59 52 219 57 918 110 137 2.01
60–64 39 423 46 323 85 746 1.57
65-69 30 885 38 323 69 207 1.27
70-74 21 747 29 537 51 285 0.94
75-79 12 425 18 699 31 124 0.57
80-84 5 168 9 115 14 283 0.26
85+ 3 964 6 928 10 891 0.20
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 1 055 336 1 056 710 2 112 046 38.62
15–64 1 564 279 1 615 506 3 179 785 58.15
65+ 74 189 102 602 176 791 3.23

Vital statistics[edit]

Registration of vital events in the Republic of the Congo is incomplete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Period Population
(thousands) 		Live births
(thousands) 		Deaths
(thousands) 		Natural change
(thousands) 		CBR[i] CDR[i] NC[i] TFR[i] IMR[i] Life expectancy
(years)
1950   835   38   20   18 44.9 23.6 21.3 6.07 154.5 40.06
1951   853   38   20   18 44.8 23.2 21.6 6.07 151.2 40.65
1952   872   39   20   19 44.6 22.6 22.0 6.06 147.6 41.36
1953   892   40   20   20 44.5 22.0 22.5 6.06 143.7 42.16
1954   912   40   20   21 44.3 21.5 22.8 6.05 139.6 42.85
1955   933   41   19   22 44.2 20.8 23.3 6.07 135.3 43.65
1956   956   42   19   23 44.0 20.1 23.9 6.07 130.9 44.56
1957   979   43   19   24 43.8 19.5 24.4 6.07 126.4 45.43
1958   1 003   44   19   25 43.8 18.9 24.9 6.09 122.0 46.29
1959   1 029   45   19   26 43.6 18.2 25.4 6.09 117.7 47.12
1960   1 056   46   19   27 43.4 17.6 25.7 6.09 113.6 47.98
1961   1 083   47   19   28 43.2 17.1 26.1 6.09 109.9 48.70
1962   1 112   48   18   30 43.1 16.5 26.5 6.10 106.4 49.50
1963   1 143   49   18   31 43.2 16.1 27.1 6.15 103.2 50.12
1964   1 174   51   18   32 43.3 15.7 27.6 6.18 100.2 50.70
1965   1 207   52   19   34 43.5 15.4 28.1 6.23 97.4 51.20
1966   1 242   54   19   35 43.6 15.0 28.6 6.27 94.6 51.77
1967   1 278   56   19   37 43.6 14.8 28.9 6.29 92.3 52.10
1968   1 316   58   19   39 43.8 14.4 29.4 6.33 89.7 52.72
1969   1 356   59   19   40 43.9 14.1 29.8 6.35 87.4 53.20
1970   1 397   61   19   42 44.0 13.8 30.2 6.38 85.3 53.63
1971   1 440   64   19   44 44.2 13.5 30.7 6.42 83.3 54.04
1972   1 485   66   20   46 44.3 13.3 31.0 6.44 81.4 54.36
1973   1 532   68   20   48 44.1 13.0 31.0 6.42 79.6 54.70
1974   1 580   69   20   49 43.9 12.8 31.1 6.39 78.0 55.06
1975   1 625   71   20   51 43.7 12.6 31.1 6.36 76.4 55.32
1976   1 665   72   21   52 43.3 12.3 30.9 6.32 74.9 55.60
1977   1 706   73   21   53 42.9 12.2 30.7 6.27 73.5 55.81
1978   1 747   74   21   53 42.4 11.9 30.5 6.21 72.1 56.07
1979   1 788   75   21   54 41.9 11.7 30.2 6.14 70.6 56.31
1980   1 829   76   21   55 41.5 11.5 30.0 6.07 69.3 56.59
1981   1 871   77   21   56 41.2 11.2 29.9 5.98 67.9 56.83
1982   1 912   79   21   57 40.9 11.1 29.9 5.90 66.5 57.02
1983   1 952   80   21   59 40.8 10.9 29.9 5.81 65.1 57.23
1984   2 002   81   21   60 40.6 10.6 30.0 5.73 63.7 57.45
1985   2 063   83   22   61 40.3 10.6 29.7 5.65 62.3 57.52
1986   2 125   85   22   63 40.0 10.5 29.5 5.57 61.2 57.55
1987   2 189   87   23   64 39.8 10.5 29.2 5.49 60.4 57.43
1988   2 253   89   24   65 39.5 10.7 28.8 5.40 60.0 57.01
1989   2 319   91   25   66 39.2 10.9 28.3 5.31 60.0 56.51
1990   2 385   93   27   66 38.8 11.1 27.7 5.21 60.5 55.93
1991   2 453   95   28   67 38.7 11.5 27.2 5.16 61.4 55.24
1992   2 521   97   30   68 38.6 11.7 26.9 5.11 62.7 54.66
1993   2 594   100   31   68 38.4 12.0 26.4 5.06 64.4 54.15
1994   2 669   102   33   70 38.3 12.2 26.1 5.00 66.1 53.74
1995   2 742   105   34   71 38.2 12.3 25.9 4.97 68.1 53.64
1996   2 817   108   35   73 38.2 12.4 25.8 4.97 70.0 53.49
1997   2 875   110   47   64 38.3 16.2 22.1 4.96 75.1 47.19
1998   2 937   111   41   71 38.0 13.8 24.1 4.93 75.1 50.89
1999   3 017   114   38   75 37.7 12.7 25.0 4.85 74.0 52.76
2000   3 134   115   38   77 37.2 12.2 25.0 4.76 73.1 53.68
2001   3 254   122   39   84 37.6 11.8 25.8 4.71 71.4 54.40
2002   3 331   125   38   87 37.5 11.5 26.1 4.72 68.8 55.09
2003   3 425   127   37   90 37.3 11.0 26.3 4.70 65.6 55.95
2004   3 543   132   37   95 37.4 10.4 27.0 4.69 61.7 56.99
2005   3 673   137   36   101 37.4 9.8 27.5 4.66 57.8 58.13
2006   3 813   142   36   107 37.5 9.4 28.1 4.66 54.0 58.88
2007   3 956   148   36   113 37.7 9.1 28.6 4.67 50.7 59.64
2008   4 090   156   36   121 38.2 8.7 29.5 4.73 47.7 60.43
2009   4 257   162   35   127 38.4 8.4 30.0 4.79 45.3 61.09
2010   4 438   172   36   136 38.9 8.1 30.7 4.82 43.6 61.68
2011   4 584   175   36   139 38.2 7.9 30.3 4.79 42.1 61.99
2012   4 713   177   37   141 37.5 7.8 29.8 4.75 41.0 62.32
2013   4 828   177   36   140 36.5 7.5 29.0 4.69 40.0 62.70
2014   4 945   176   36   140 35.5 7.4 28.2 4.63 38.7 62.95
2015   5 064   176   37   139 34.6 7.2 27.5 4.56 37.6 63.23
2016   5 187   175   36   139 33.7 7.0 26.7 4.49 36.5 63.58
2017   5 312   176   37   139 33.0 6.9 26.1 4.43 35.4 63.76
2018   5 441   176   37   139 32.3 6.8 25.5 4.37 34.5 64.05
2019   5 571   177   41   135 31.7 7.4 24.3 4.30 35.4 62.75
2020   5 702   178   39   138 31.2 6.9 24.2 4.23 32.6 63.79
2021   5 836   179   41   138 30.7 7.1 23.6 4.17 31.7 63.52
  1. ^ a b c d e CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022[7]

Fertility and Births[edit]

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[8]

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
2005 40,0 4,8 (4,4) 34,6 3,8 (3,5) 46,1 6,1 (5,7)
2011-2012 41,4 5,1 (4,5) 40,6 4,5 (4,1) 42,8 6,5 (5,5)

Fertility data as of 2011-2012 (DHS Program):[9]

Department Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Kouilou 6.8 11.4 6.2
Niari 5.9 11.9 5.4
Lékoumou 6.5 9.9 5.7
Bouenza 5.7 8.5 5.6
Pool 6.4 10.2 5.5
Plateaux 6.3 11.4 5.6
Cuvette 6.4 12.5 5.6
Cuvette-Ouest 6.0 10.1 6.1
Sangha 5.8 11.9 5.4
Likouala 7.0 11.7 6.4
Brazzaville 4.3 8.7 4.3
Pointe-Noire 4.6 9.2 4.5

Ethnic groups[edit]

Kongo 40.5%, Teke 16.9%, Mbochi 13.1%, Sangha 5.6%, Europeans and other 23.9%[10]

Languages[edit]

Kikongo/Kituba language area
Lingala language area

French (official), Kituba or Monokutuba (lingua franca), Kongo or Kikongo, Lingala, and many local languages and dialects.

The majority of the population is concentrated along the railroad between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville in the south where Kituba (a creole language based on Kikongo) is the primary language. Lingala is influential in the sparsely inhabited northern half of the country.

Religion[edit]

Roman Catholic 33.1%, Awakening Churches/Christian Revival 22.3%, Protestant 19.9%, Salutiste 2.2%, Islam 1.6%, Kimbanguiste 1.5%, Other 8.1%, None 11.3% (2010 est.)[10]

Health[edit]

Life expectancy for the population was estimated at 54.91 years in 2011: 53.62 for males and 56.25 for females. The adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS was 3.4% as of 2009, representing 77,000 people living with the disease and 5,100 deaths. The Republic of Congo is considered to have a high degree of risk of infectious diseases, particularly bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever (all food- or waterborne), and malaria (vectorborne).

Period Life expectancy in
Years[11]
1950–1955 43.15
1955–1960 Increase 46.83
1960–1965 Increase 50.16
1965–1970 Increase 52.49
1970–1975 Increase 54.11
1975–1980 Increase 55.44
1980–1985 Increase 56.63
1985–1990 Increase 56.66
1990–1995 Decrease 54.83
1995–2000 Decrease 51.99
2000–2005 Increase 52.12
2005–2010 Increase 57.95
2010–2015 Increase 62.55

Education[edit]

As of 2003, 83.8% of the adult population was considered literate, consisting 89.3% of males and 78.4% of females.

Other demographic statistics[edit]

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.[12]

  • One birth every 3 minutes
  • One death every 14 minutes
  • One net migrant every 206 minutes
  • Net gain of one person every 4 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.[13]

Population[edit]

5,546,307 (2022 est.)
5,062,021 (July 2018 est.)

Religions[edit]

Roman Catholic 33.1%, Awakening Churches/Christian Revival 22.3%, Protestant 19.9%, Salutiste 2.2%, Muslim 1.6%, Kimbanguiste 1.5%, other 8.1%, none 11.3% (2007 est.)

Age structure[edit]

Population pyramid of the Republic of the Congo in 2020
0-14 years: 41.57% (male 1,110,484/female 1,089,732)
15-24 years: 17.14% (male 454,981/female 452,204)
25-54 years: 33.5% (male 886,743/female 886,312)
55-64 years: 4.59% (male 125,207/female 117,810)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 75,921/female 93,676) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 41.75% (male 1,066,474 /female 1,046,924)
15-24 years: 16.99% (male 431,279 /female 428,999)
25-54 years: 33.77% (male 857,596 /female 851,712)
55-64 years: 4.39% (male 112,669 /female 109,429)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 69,621 /female 87,318) (2018 est.)
0-14 years: 41.67% (male 1,041,761/female 1,022,763)
15-24 years: 17.1% (male 424,521/female 422,755)
25-54 years: 33.89% (male 843,856/female 835,041)
55-64 years: 4.29% (male 106,776/female 105,573)
65 years and over: 3.06% (male 66,962/female 84,666) (2017 est.)

Median age[edit]

total: 19.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 202nd
male: 19.3 years
female: 19.7 years (2020 est.)
total: 19.6 years. Country comparison to the world: 199th
male: 19.4 years
female: 19.8 years (2018 est.)
total: 19.7 years
male: 19.5 years
female: 19.8 years (2017 est.)

Birth rate[edit]

31.82 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 26th
33.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 26th
34.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate[edit]

8.38 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 76th
9.2 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 58th
9.5 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate[edit]

3.86 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 28th
4.36 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 21st
4.26 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 28th

Population growth rate[edit]

2.34% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 30th
2.17% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th
2.11% (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth[edit]

19.8 years (2011/12 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate[edit]

30.1% (2014/15)

Net migration rate[edit]

-2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 172nd

Religions[edit]

Roman Catholic 33.1%, Awakening Churches/Christian Revival 22.3%, Protestant 19.9%, Salutiste 2.2%, Muslim 1.6%, Kimbanguiste 1.5%, other 8.1%, none 11.3% (2010 est.)

Dependency ratios[edit]

total dependency ratio: 84.5 (2015 est.)
youth dependency ratio: 78.3 (2015 est.)
elderly dependency ratio: 6.2 (2015 est.)
potential support ratio: 16.1 (2015 est.)

Urbanization[edit]

urban population: 68.7% of total population (2022)
rate of urbanization: 3.19% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 66.9% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanisation: 3.28% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio[edit]

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate[edit]

total: 53.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)
male: 58.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)
female: 48.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

Life expectancy at birth[edit]

total population: 62.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 215th
male: 60.65 years
female: 63.61 years (2022 est.)
total population: 60.3 years (2018 est.)
male: 59 years (2018 est.)
female: 61.6 years (2018 est.)

HIV/AIDS[edit]

Adult prevalence rate: 3.1% (2017 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 100,000 (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS deaths: 4,900 (2017 est.)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate[edit]

9.6% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight[edit]

12.3% (2015)

Literacy[edit]

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 80.3%
male: 86.1%
female: 74.6% (2018)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

total population: 79.3% (2015 est.)
male: 86.4% (2015 est.)
female: 72.9% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)[edit]

total: 11 years (2012)
male: 11 years (2012)
female: 11 years (2012)

Major infectious diseases[edit]

  • 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; the Republic of the Congo 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

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of the Republic of the Congo.
  1. ^ "Les pygmées du Congo en "danger d'extinction"". Le Monde.fr. 5 August 2011 – via Le Monde.
  2. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  6. ^ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  7. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2022). "World Population Prospects 2022 Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XLS (91MB)). United Nations Population Division. 27 (Online ed.). New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. rows 3533:3604, cols M,X,AE,S,AH,S,AA,AV,AI. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09.
  8. ^ "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys". microdata.worldbank.org.
  9. ^ "Enquête Démographique et de Santé 2011-2012" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Africa :: CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE". CIA The World Factbook. 19 April 2022.
  11. ^ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  12. ^ "Republic of the Congo Population 2022", World Population Review
  13. ^ "The World FactBook - Republic of the Congo", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2006 edition.)

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