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

Rwanda's population density, even after the 1994 genocide, is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa at 500 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,300/sq mi). This country has few villages, and nearly every family lives in a self-contained compound on a hillside. The urban concentrations are grouped around administrative centers.

Over half of the adult population is literate, but no more than 5% have received secondary education.

Ethnic groups

The Rwandan population largely consists of three ethnic groups. The Hutus, who comprise the majority of the population (85%), are farmers of Bantu origin. The Tutsis (14% before the Genocide, probably less than 10% now) are a pastoral people who arrived in the area in the 15th century.^{[citation needed]} Until 1959, they formed the dominant caste under a feudal system based on cattleholding.^[1]

The Twa (pygmies) (1%) are thought to be the remnants of the earliest settlers of the region.

Population

In 1950, Rwanda had a very narrow population pyramid, with less than 250,000 males and females between 0–10 years old. The graph only gets narrower as it goes up with virtually no-one living past 50 years of age. In 2017, we see the population of Rwanda increase dramatically from 1950 with about 750,000 people between 0–20 years old, the graph remains very narrow in the older ages section but has improved from 1950. By 2050, it is predicted that more people will be living longer and the structure will broaden overall. By 2100, it is predicted that there will be more people aged between 30 and 60 than between 0–20 as previous years have shown.^[2]

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects^[3][4] the total population was 13,461,888 in 2021, compared to only 2,072,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42.6%, 54.7% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% was 65 years or older .^[5]

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2012) (Data refer to national projections.):^[6]

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Projections based on the 2012 Population Census.):^[7]