Demographics of Swaziland

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Swaziland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Swazi people dancing in a cultural village show.

The majority of Swaziland's population is ethnic Swazi, mixed with a small number of Zulus and white Africans, predominantly of British and Afrikaner origin. This population also includes a small segment within it that is mixed with any number of these ancestries.

Traditionally Swazis have been subsistence farmers and herders, but most now work in the growing urban formal economy and in government. Some Swazis work in the mines in South Africa. Swaziland also received Portuguese settlers and black refugees from Mozambique. Christianity in Swaziland is sometimes mixed with traditional beliefs and practices. Most Swazis ascribe a special spiritual role to the Swazi Royal Family.

The country's official languages are Siswati (a language related to Zulu) and English. Government and commercial business is conducted mainly in English. Asians, Afrikaners, Portuguese, and black Mozambicans speak their own languages.

Population

Demographics of Swaziland, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Swaziland's population is 1,419,623 according to the 2014 estimate from the CIA Factbook. The 2007 Census put the nation's population at 912,229. This number is lower than the 1997 Census, which gave 929,718 residents. The small difference is believed to be the result of massive emigration of Swazis to South Africa in search of work.

According to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 1 186 000 in 2010, compared to only 273 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 38.4%, 58.2% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.4% was 65 years or older .

	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	273	43.0	54.3	2.7
1955	307	44.2	53	2.8
1960	349	45.2	52	2.8
1965	392	46.3	51.0	2.7
1970	446	47.2	50.1	2.7
1975	517	48.0	49.3	2.7
1980	603	48.8	48.5	2.7
1985	706	48.9	48.3	2.8
1990	863	48.1	49.2	2.7
1995	964	47.6	49.6	2.8
2000	1 064	44.6	52.4	3.0
2005	1 105	41.8	55	3.2
2010	1 186	38.4	58.2	3.4

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	518 788	574 370	1 093 158	100
0-4	74 546	71 825	146 371	13,39
5-9	65 218	63 120	128 338	11,74
10-14	64 685	65 542	130 227	11,91
15-19	62 189	65 434	127 623	11,67
20-24	55 620	60 313	115 933	10,61
25-29	45 640	53 379	99 019	9,06
30-34	36 137	45 782	81 919	7,49
35-39	27 074	36 061	63 135	5,78
40-44	21 087	28 717	49 804	4,56
45-49	16 657	22 132	38 789	3,55
50-54	13 445	17 283	30 728	2,81
55-59	10 705	13 525	24 230	2,22
60-64	8 475	10 446	18 921	1,73
65-69	6 639	7 970	14 609	1,34
70-74	4 846	5 622	10 468	0,96
75-79	3 048	3 514	6 562	0,60
80+	2 777	3 705	6 482	0,59

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	204 449	200 487	404 936	37,04
15-64	297 029	353 072	650 101	59,47
65+	17 310	20 811	38 121	3,49

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Swaziland not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	14 000	7 000	7 000	48.1	22.6	25.5	6.70	174
1955-1960	16 000	7 000	9 000	47.6	20.8	26.8	6.70	160
1960-1965	18 000	7 000	10 000	47.9	19.6	28.2	6.75	150
1965-1970	20 000	8 000	13 000	49.0	18.5	30.4	6.85	141
1970-1975	24 000	8 000	16 000	49.3	16.4	32.9	6.87	124
1975-1980	27 000	8 000	19 000	48.5	14.2	34.2	6.73	108
1980-1985	31 000	8 000	23 000	47.7	12.0	35.7	6.54	90
1985-1990	36 000	8 000	28 000	46.1	10.3	35.8	6.13	77
1990-1995	36 000	9 000	28 000	39.9	9.4	30.4	5.30	69
1995-2000	35 000	12 000	22 000	34.1	11.9	22.1	4.49	80
2000-2005	34 000	17 000	17 000	31.8	15.7	16.1	4.01	87
2005-2010	34 000	17 000	17 000	30.1	14.9	15.2	3.57	76
* 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)

Fertility and Births

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

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1986		6,4
1991		5,6
1997		4,5
1999-2002		4,2
2006-2007	31,1	3,8 (2,1)	31,9	3,0 (1,8)	31,0	4,2 (2,2)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

1,419,623 (July 2014 est.),
note: Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

Median age

total: 20.5 years male: 20.2 years female: 20.9 years (2012 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 1.03 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003, 2000 est.)

15-64 years: 0.99 (2003 est.), 0.93 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

65 years and over: 0.78 (2003 est.), 0.7 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

total population: 0.99 (2003 est.), 0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Population growth rate

1.195% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

26.16 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

14.21 deaths/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (2010)

Urbanization

urban population: 21% of total population (2010)

rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female

total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

320 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

Infant mortality rate

total: 59.57 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 63.59 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 55.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population:

49.06 years (2012 est.)

47.85 years (2010 est.)

33.22 (2005 est.)

39.47 (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.03 children born/woman (2012 est.)

Health expenditures

6.3% of GDP (2009)

Physicians density

0.16 physicians/1,000 population (2004)

Hospital bed density

2.1 beds/1,000 population (2006)

HIV/AIDS

- adult prevalence rate 25.9% (2009 est.)

people living with HIV/AIDS 180,000 (2009 est.)

deaths 7,000 (2009 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid :fever

vectorborne disease: malaria

water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2009)

Nationality

noun: Swazi(s) adjective: Swazi

Ethnic groups

Black 97%, White 3%

Religions

Christianity 57%, Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, other faiths (Muslim, Bahá'í) 3% (see Religion in Swaziland)

Languages

English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 81.6% (2003 est.), 76.7% (1995 est.)

male: 82.6% (2003 est.), 78% (1995 est.)

female: 80.8% (2003 est.), 75.6% (1995 est.)

See also

• HIV/AIDS in Swaziland