Demographics of the Republic of the Congo

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Republic of the Congo, including 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

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

According to the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects[2][3] the total population was 5,244,359 in 2018, 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

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in the Republic of the Congo is incomplete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [4]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	36 000	18 000	18 000	42.2	20.9	21.4	5.68	142
1955-1960	40 000	17 000	23 000	42.3	18.3	24.0	5.79	123
1960-1965	46 000	18 000	29 000	42.8	16.2	26.6	5.99	107
1965-1970	54 000	18 000	35 000	43.1	14.8	28.3	6.19	97
1970-1975	62 000	20 000	43 000	43.1	13.7	29.4	6.29	89
1975-1980	72 000	21 000	50 000	42.7	12.8	29.9	6.29	83
1980-1985	79 000	23 000	56 000	40.9	12.0	29.0	5.99	78
1985-1990	87 000	26 000	61 000	38.9	11.4	27.4	5.55	73
1990-1995	97 000	31 000	66 000	37.8	12.1	25.6	5.21	74
1995-2000	111 000	37 000	74 000	37.7	12.6	25.1	5.01	75
2000-2005	124 000	42 000	82 000	37.2	12.5	24.6	4.85	75
2005-2010	136 000	44 000	92 000	36.0	11.7	24.3	4.64	72
* 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):[5]

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):[6]

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

Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, Teke 17%, M'Bochi 12%, Europeans and other 3%[7]

Languages

French (official), Lingala, Monokutuba (lingua franca), Kikongo, 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

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.)[7]

Health

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[8]
1950–1955	43.15
1955–1960	46.83
1960–1965	50.16
1965–1970	52.49
1970–1975	54.11
1975–1980	55.44
1980–1985	56.63
1985–1990	56.66
1990–1995	54.83
1995–2000	51.99
2000–2005	52.12
2005–2010	57.95
2010–2015	62.55

Education

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

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[9]

• One birth every 3 minutes
• One death every 14 minutes
• One net migrant every 144 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 4 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.[10]

Population

5,062,021 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of the Republic of the Congo in 2017

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

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

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

34.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

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

4.26 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 28th

Population growth rate

2.17% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th

2.11% (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.8 years (2011/12 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

30.1% (2014/15)

Net migration rate

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

Religions

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

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

urban population: 66.9% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanisation: 3.28% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

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

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

total population: 60.3 years (2018 est.)

male: 59 years (2018 est.)

female: 61.6 years (2018 est.)

HIV/AIDS

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

9.6% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

12.3% (2015)

Literacy

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)

total: 11 years (2012)

male: 11 years (2012)

female: 11 years (2012)

References

1. "Les pygmées du Congo en "danger d'extinction"". 5 August 2011 – via Le Monde.
2. ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
3. ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
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. "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys". microdata.worldbank.org.
6. "Enquête Démographique et de Santé 2011-2012" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
7. "Africa :: CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE". CIA The World Factbook.
8. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
9. "Republic of the Congo Population 2019", World Population Review
10. "The World FactBook - Republic of the Congo", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document: "2006 edition".