Demographics of Djibouti
Djibouti population pyramid in 2020
Population	994,017 (2019)
Growth rate	2.23% (2014)
Birth rate	25.27 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate	8.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Life expectancy	62.4 years (2014)
• male	59.93 years
• female	64.94 years
Fertility rate	2.79 children born/woman (2010)
Infant mortality rate	53.31 deaths/1,000 infants (2012 est.)[1]
Age structure
0–14 years	35% (male 132,592/female 132,114)
15–64 years	61.7% (male 206,323/female 260,772)
65 and over	3.3% (male 11,349/female 13,924)
Sex ratio
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	1 male(s)/female
15–64 years	0.8 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.81 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Djiboutian
Major ethnic	Somali 50% Afar 40%
Language
Spoken	Somali (official), Afar (official), French(official), Arabic (non-official),

Demographic features of Djibouti include population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

Ethnic groups

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]

Languages

An Issa woman in nomadic attire.

An Afar man in nomadic attire.

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]

Population

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]