Demographics of Algeria



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

Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the country's total land mass. 75% of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities.

97% of the population follows Sunni Islam; the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly Ibadis from the Mozabite valley at 1.3% (see Islam in Algeria).

Christianity in Algeria constitutes about 1% of the total population. While significantly greater during the French colonial years, a mostly foreign Roman Catholic community still exists, as do some Protestants. The Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substantially decreased due to emigration, mostly to France and Israel.

Algeria's educational system has grown rapidly since 1962. In 2022, there were almost 11 million pupils and 2 million students. Education is free and compulsory to age 16. Modest numbers of Algerian students study abroad, primarily in France and French-speaking Canada. In 2000, the government launched a major review of the country's educational system.

Vital statistics
Figures from National Office of Statistics Algeria, United Nations Demographic Yearbook and the CIA World Factbook:

Ethnic groups
Arabs make up 73.6% of the population of Algeria, Berbers make up 23.2%, Arabized Berbers make up 3%, and others constitute 0.2%. Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks as well as other ethnic groups have contributed to the ethnic makeup and genetic structure of the Algerian population. Descendants of Andalusian refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities. Moreover, Spanish was spoken by these Aragonese and Castillian Morisco descendants deep into the 18th century, and even Catalan was spoken at the same time by Catalan Morisco descendants in the small town of Grish El-Oued.



The Arab population of Algeria is a result of the inflow of sedentary and nomadic Arab tribes from Arabia since the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century with a major wave in the 11th century. The majority of Algerians identify with an Arab-based identity due to the 20th century Arab nationalism. The ethnic Berbers are divided into many groups with varying languages. The largest of these are the Kabyles, who live in the Kabylia region east of Algiers, the Chaoui of North-East Algeria, the Tuaregs in the southern desert and the Shenwa people of North Algeria.

During the colonial period, there was a large (15% in 1960) European population who became known as Pied-Noirs. They were primarily of French, Spanish and Italian origin. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.

Religion
Islam is the predominant religion with 99% of the population. There are about 150,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia.

There were an estimated 10,000 Christians in Algeria in 2008. In a 2009 study the UNO estimated there were 45,000 Catholics and 50,000–100,000 Protestants in Algeria. A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria.

Languages
Arabic and Berber serve as both official languages and national languages in Algeria.

Algerian Arabic (Algerian Dziriya or Darja) is the language used by the majority of the population. Colloquial Algerian Arabic has many Berber and French loanwords.

Although French has no official status, Algeria is the second-largest Francophone country in the world in terms of speakers, and French is widely used in government, media (newspapers, radio, local television), and both the education system (from primary school onwards) and academia due to Algeria's colonial history. It can be regarded as the de facto co-official language of Algeria. In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians could read and write in French. An Abassa Institute study in April 2000 found that 60% of households could speak and understand French. In recent decades the government has reinforced the study of French and TV programs have reinforced use of the language.

Algeria emerged as a bilingual state after 1962. Colloquial Arabic is spoken by about 83% of the population and Berber by 27.4%.

Spoken and popular languages

 * Arabic language: 83% (dialectal Algerian Arabic including all dialects: Eastern, Western, Algiers dialect, Saharan)
 * French: 70% (as a 2nd or 3rd language, spoken by both low and highly educated people)
 * Berber languages: 27.4% Chaouia, Kabyle, Tamahaq, Chenoua, Mozabite (Tumẓabt)
 * English: 15% (as a 3rd language, spoken by highly educated people)
 * Korandje language (Kwarandzyey): 0.01%

Official and recognized languages

 * Modern Standard Arabic: official language of the state.
 * Berber language (Tamazight): official language of the state.

Literacy

 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
 * total population: 81.4%
 * male: 87.4%
 * female: 75.3% (2018)

Education expenditures

 * 7% of GDP (2020)

Other demographics statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.
 * One birth every 33 seconds
 * One death every 2 minutes
 * One net migrant every 53 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 43 seconds

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

Nationality

 * Noun: Algerian(s)
 * Adjective: Algerian

Population

 * 44,758,398 (2023 est.)

Age structure

 * 0–14 years: 28.78% (male 6,594,512/female 6,286,191)
 * 15–64 years: 64.29% (male 14,607,255/female 14,166,990)
 * 65 years and over: 6.93% (2023 est.) (male 1,475,635/female 1,627,815) (2023 est.)

Religions
Muslim (official; predominantly Sunni) 99%, other (includes Christian, Jewish, Ahmadi Muslims, Shia Muslims, Ibadi Muslims) <1% (2012 est.)

Population growth rate

 * 1.27% (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 139th
 * 1.34% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 71st
 * 1.63% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 63rd
 * 1.7% (2017 est.)

Median age

 * total: 28.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 139th
 * male: 28.6 years
 * female: 29.3 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

 * 2.97 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 49th
 * 2.51 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 68th
 * 2.66 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 64th

Birth rate

 * 18.52 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 78th
 * 21.5 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 74th

Death rate

 * 4.32 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 207th
 * 4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 205th

Net migration rate

 * -0.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 138th
 * -0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 135th
 * -0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)
 * -0.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Urbanization

 * Urban population: 66% of total population (2010)
 * Rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
 * Rate of urbanization: 2.3% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

 * at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
 * total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Infant mortality rate

 * total: 19.22 deaths/1,000 live births
 * male: 21.2 deaths/1,000 live births
 * female: 17.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
 * comparison ranking: total 82

Life expectancy at birth

 * total population: 78.03 years
 * male: 76.57 years
 * female: 79.57 years (2022 est.)
 * comparison ranking: total population 78

Urbanization

 * urban population: 75.3% of total population (2023)
 * rate of urbanization: 1.99% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

HIV/AIDS

 * Adult prevalence rate: 0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
 * People living with HIV/AIDS: 21,000 (2007 est.)
 * Deaths: less than 1000 (2007 est.)

Obesity rate

 * Adult prevalence rate: 27.4% (2016 est.)

Drinking water source

 * improved: urban: 99.6% of population rural: 98.8% of population  total: 99.4% of population
 * unimproved: urban: 0.4% of population rural: 1.2% of population  total: 0.6% of population (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases

 * Degree of risk: intermediate
 * Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
 * Vector-borne disease: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a high risk in some locations (2005)

Y-DNA frequencies in coastal Algeria
In a recent genetic study by Semino et al. (2004), the Haplogroup J1 associated with the diffusion of Arabs was found at 35% in Algeria, which is one of the most common haplogroups in Algeria, like the rest of the Maghreb, along with E1b1b.

Recent studies on the common J1 Y chromosome suggest it arrived over 10,000 years ago in North Africa, and M81/E3b2 is a Y chromosome specific to North African ancestry, dating to the Neolithic. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004) which analyzed populations from Algeria concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both E3b2 and J haplogroups is largely of Neolithic origin, which suggests that the Neolithic transition in this part of the world was accompanied by demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic–speaking pastoralists from the Middle East. This Neolithic origin was later confirmed by Myles et al. (2005) which suggest that "contemporary Berber populations possess the genetic signature of a past migration of pastoralists from the Middle East", although later papers have suggested that this date could have been as longas ten thousand years ago, with the transition from the Oranian to the Capsian culture in North Africa.