Demographics of Cameroon

The demographic profile of Cameroon is complex for a country of its population. Cameroon comprises an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions:
 * western highlanders (Semi-Bantu or grassfielders), including the Bamileke, Bamum (or Bamoun), and many smaller Tikar groups in the Northwest (est. 38% of total population);
 * coastal tropical forest peoples, including the Bassa, Duala (or Douala), and many smaller groups in the Southwest (12%);
 * southern tropical forest peoples, including the Beti-Pahuin, Bulu (a subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Fang (subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Maka, Njem, and Baka pygmies (18%);
 * predominantly Islamic peoples of the northern semi-arid regions (the Sahel) and central highlands, including the Fulani (Peul or Peuhl; Fulɓe) (14%); and
 * the "Kirdi", non-Islamic or recently Islamic peoples of the northern desert and central highlands (18%).

113,000 Igbo people live in Cameroon. The Cameroon government held two national censuses during the country's first 44 years as an independent country, in 1976 and again in 1987. Results from the second head count were never published. A third census, expected to take years to produce results, began on November 11, 2005, with a three-week interviewing phase. It is one of a series of projects and reforms required by the International Monetary Fund as prerequisites for foreign debt relief. The first results were published in 2010.

Population
According to the total population was  in, compared to only 4 466 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.6%, 55.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.5% was 65 years or older.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.I.2010) (Data refer to national projections.):

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Source: Population projections and estimates of priority targets for the various health programs and interventions, National Institute of Statistics (2016).):

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

Fertility data as of 2011 (DHS Program):

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

Ethnic groups



 * Cameroon Highlanders 31%
 * Equatorial Bantu 19%
 * Kirdi 11%
 * Fulani 10%
 * Baggara Arabs (also called Arab Shuwa)
 * Hausa
 * Mafa
 * Kanuri
 * Northwestern Bantu 8%
 * Eastern Nigritic 7%
 * Other African 13%
 * Non-African less than 1%

Languages


There are 24 major African language groups in Cameroon; additionally, English and French are official languages. Cameroonian Pidgin English is also widely spoken.

Peoples concentrated in the Southwest and Northwest Provinces—around Buea and Bamenda—use standard English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, as well as their local languages. In the three northern provinces—Adamawa, North, and Far North—either French or Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani) is widely spoken. Elsewhere, French is the principal second language, although pidgin and some local languages such as Ewondo, the dialect of a Beti clan from the Yaoundé area, have a wide currency. In Far North Region the northernmost constituent province of Cameroon, Mafa Language Arab Shuwa (an Arab dialect) and is spoken by the Baggara Arabs (also called Arab Shuwa).

Indigenous languages of Cameroon include:
 * Arab Shuwa
 * Bamum
 * Basaa
 * Bikya
 * Bung
 * Kanuri
 * Ngumba
 * Yeni
 * Lamnso
 * Meta'
 * Mafa

Other demographic statistics


Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.


 * One birth every 34 seconds
 * One death every 2 minutes
 * One net migrant every 111 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 46 seconds

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

 * 29,321,637 (2022 est.)
 * 25,640,965 (July 2018 est.)
 * 24,994,885 (2017 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 (July 2018 est.)

Religion
Roman Catholic 38.3%, Protestant 25.5%, other Christian 6.9%, Muslim 24.4%, animist 2.2%, other 0.5%, none 2.2% (2018 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 42.34% (male 5,927,640/female 5,820,226)
 * 15-24 years: 20.04% (male 2,782,376/female 2,776,873)
 * 25-54 years: 30.64% (male 4,191,151/female 4,309,483)
 * 55-64 years: 3.87% (male 520,771/female 552,801)
 * 65 years and over: 3.11% (male 403,420/female 460,248) (2020 est.)


 * 0-14 years: 42.15% (male 5,445,142 /female 5,362,166)
 * 15-24 years: 19.6% (male 2,524,031 /female 2,502,072)
 * 25-54 years: 31.03% (male 4,001,963 /female 3,954,258)
 * 55-64 years: 3.99% (male 499,101 /female 524,288)
 * 65 years and over: 3.23% (male 384,845 /female 443,099) (2018 est.)

Birth rate

 * 35.53 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 14th
 * 35 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 21st
 * 35.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

 * 7.73 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 101st
 * 9.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 49th
 * 9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

 * 4.5 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 17th
 * 4.55 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 19th
 * 4.58 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 24th
 * According to Cameroon government website, average children per woman was 5.0 in 2004, 4.7 in 2016.

Net migration rate

 * -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 119th
 * -0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 104th
 * -0.1 migrants/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

 * 20.1 years (2018 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 25-49


 * 19.7 years (2011 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Median age

 * total: 18.5 years. Country comparison to the world: 209th
 * male: 18.2 years
 * female: 18.8 years (2020 est.)


 * total: 18.6 years. Country comparison to the world: 208th
 * male: 18.5 years
 * female: 18.7 years (2018 est.)


 * total: 18.5 years
 * male: 18.4 years
 * female: 18.7 years (2017 est.)

Population growth rate

 * 2.75% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 15th
 * 2.54% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 20th
 * 2.56% (2013 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 58.7% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)


 * urban population: 56.4% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.63% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)


 * Urban population: 58% of total population (2010)
 * Rate of urbanization: 3.3% 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: 1.01 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
 * Total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

 * total population: 63.27 years Country comparison to the world: 210th
 * male: 61.49 years
 * female: 65.09 years (2022 est.)


 * total population: 59 years
 * male: 57.6 years
 * female: 60.4 years (2017 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 19.3% (2018)
 * 34.4% (2014)

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 85.9 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 80 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.9 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 17 (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

 * total: 12 years
 * male: 13 years
 * female: 11 years (2016)

HIV/AIDS

 * Adult prevalence rate: 3.7% (2017 est.)
 * People living with HIV/AIDS: 510,000 (2017 est.)
 * Deaths: 24,000 (2017 est.)

Major infectious diseases

 * Degree of risk: very high
 * Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and hepatitis E, and typhoid fever
 * Vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
 * Water contact disease: schistosomiasis
 * Respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
 * Animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality

 * Noun: Cameroonian(s)
 * Adjective: Cameroonian

Literacy

 * Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
 * Total population: 77.1% (2018 est.)
 * Male: 82.6%
 * Female: 71.6%

Education expenditure

 * 2.8% of GDP (2013)