Demographics of Ivory Coast

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

Population
According to the total population was  in, compared to only 2 630 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.9%, 55.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.8% was 65 years or older .

Population Growth
1.88% (2016 est.)

Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in the Ivory Coast is not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.

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

Fertility data as of 2011-2012 (DHS Program):

Ethnic groups


Ivory Coast has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Southern Mandé (west), Northern Mandé (northwest), Sénoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast). The Baoulés, in the Akan division, probably comprise the largest single subgroup with 15%-20% of the population. They are based in the central region around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The Bétés in the Krou division, the Sénoufos in the north, and the Malinkés in the northwest and the cities are the next largest groups, with 10%-15% of the national population. Most of the principal divisions have a significant presence in neighboring countries.

Of the more than 5 million non-Ivorian Africans living in Ivory Coast, one-third to one-half are from Burkina Faso; the rest are from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania. The white expatriate community includes roughly 50,000 French (this number may be inaccurate due to the evacuation of roughly 8,000 Frenchmen in November 2004) and possibly 40,000 Lebanese.

Languages
French is the official language, while there are 60 living indigenous languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The Dioula dialect of Bambara is the most widely spoken one. Other language groups include the Gur languages, the Kru languages (including the Bété languages, Dida, Nyabwa, Wè, and Western Krahn), the Kwa languages (including Akan, Anyin, and Baoulé), and the Senufo languages.

Religion
The economic development and relative prosperity of Ivory Coast fostered huge demographic shifts during the 20th century. "In 1922, an estimated 100,000 out of 1.6 million (or 6 percent) of people in Côte d'Ivoire were Muslims. By contrast, at independence (in 1960), their share of the population had increased rapidly, and Muslims were moving southward to the cocoa-producing areas and the southern cities. By 1998, [...], Muslims constituted a majority in the north of the country, and approximately 38.6 percent of the total population. This was a significantly larger population than the next largest religious group, Christians, who constituted approximately 29.1 percent of the total." In earlier decades, this shift was mainly due to large-scale immigration from neighboring countries of the interior, that has been going on since colonial times and continued to be promoted during the Houphouet-Boigny era. Since the 1990s, the widening conversion gap between different religious groups has started to tilt the demographic balance in favor of Christians.According to the last census of 2021 Muslims make up 42,5% of population (42,9% in 2014) and Christians 39,8%(33,9% in 2014).

Ivorian diaspora
The table below shows the number of people born in Ivory Coast who have migrated to OECD countries only (the table only includes communities consisting of at least 1,000 members).

Other demographic 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 360 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 46 seconds

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

Population

 * 28,713,423 (2022 est.)
 * 26,260,582 (July 2018 est.)
 * 21,058,798 (2010 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 38.53% (male 5,311,971/female 5,276,219)
 * 15-24 years: 20.21% (male 2,774,374/female 2,779,012)
 * 25-54 years: 34.88% (male 4,866,957/female 4,719,286)
 * 55-64 years: 3.53% (male 494,000/female 476,060)
 * 65 years and over: 2.85% (2020 est.) (male 349,822/female 433,385)


 * 0-14 years: 39.59% (male 5,213,630 /female 5,182,872)
 * 15-24 years: 19.91% (male 2,613,772 /female 2,615,680)
 * 25-54 years: 34.25% (male 4,577,394 /female 4,416,408)
 * 55-64 years: 3.47% (male 460,048 /female 451,604)
 * 65 years and over: 2.78% (male 325,510 /female 403,664) (2018 est.)


 * total: 19.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 192nd
 * male: 20 years
 * female: 19.8 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

 * 28.3 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th
 * 30.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th

Death rate

 * 7.6 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 105th
 * 8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 80th

Total fertility rate

 * 3.47 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th
 * 3.53 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 37th
 * 3.83 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th

Population growth rate

 * 2.19% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th
 * 2.3% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd

Median age

 * total: 20.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 190th
 * male: 20.3 years
 * female: 20.3 years (2020 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

 * 19.6 years (2011/12 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 23.3% (2018)
 * 15.5% (2016)

Net migration rate

 * 1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 62nd
 * 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 79th

Life expectancy at birth

 * total population: 62.26 years. Country comparison to the world: 212nd
 * male: 60.07 years
 * female: 64.52 years (2022 est.)


 * total population: 60.1 years (2018 est.)
 * male: 58 years (2018 est.)
 * female: 62.4 years (2018 est.)

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 83.8 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 78.5 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.3 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 18.9 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 52.7% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.)


 * urban population: 50.8% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Religions

 * Muslim 42.9%, Catholic 17.2%, Evangelical 11.8%, Methodist 1.7%, other Christian 3.2%, animist 3.6%, other religion 0.5%, none 19.1% (2014 est.)
 * Muslim 42.5%, Catholic 16.6%, Pentecostal 13.4%, Evangelical 6.8%, other Christian 3%, animist 2.2%, other religion 0.7%, none 12.6% (2021 census)
 * note: the majority of foreign migrant workers are Muslim (72.7%) and Christian (17.7%).

HIV/AIDS

 * adult prevalence rate: 2.8% (2017 est.)
 * people living with HIV/AIDS: 500,000 (2017 est.)
 * deaths: 24,000 (2017 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Nationality
Noun and adjective: Ivorian (Ivoirian)

Education expenditures

 * 3.7% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 112nd

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)


 * total population: 89.9%
 * male: 93.1%
 * female: 86.7% (2019)


 * total population: 47.2% (2018 est.)
 * male: 53.7% (2018 est.)
 * female: 40.5% (2018 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

 * total: 10 years
 * male: 11 years
 * female: 10 years (2019)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

 * total: 3.9% (2016 est.)
 * male: 2.8% (2016 est.)
 * female: 5.1% (2016 est.)

Major infectious diseases

 * degree of risk: very high (2020)
 * food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
 * vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
 * water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
 * animal contact diseases: rabies
 * respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis