Demographics of Madagascar

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

Madagascar's population is predominantly of mixed Austronesian and East African origin.

Since the country's independence in 1960, three general census of population and dwellings (RGPH) have been conducted by the national statistics office INSTAT under the supervision of the ministry of economy. The first census in 1975 counted 7.4 million Malagasy people, the second one in 1993 censused 12.3 million citizens and the 18h May to 10 June 2018 census numbered 25 674 186 inhabitants. 

Population
The problem with population estimation in Madagascar is that data is very old and limited. The last population census was carried out in 1993, after an initial 1975 census. There was an attempt at a census in 2009, but this attempt ultimately failed due to political instability. Therefore, the demographic situation is inferred but reliability of any estimates from any source has a large margin of error. According to the total population was  in, compared to only 4,084,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 43.1%, 53.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Unrevised data. Data refer to projections based on the 1993 Population Census.):

UN population projections
UN medium variant projections:

Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in Madagascar is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022

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

Fertility data as of 2008-2009 (DHS Program):

Life expectancy
Source: UN World Population Prospects

Ethnicity
The island of Madagascar is predominantly populated by people broadly classified as belonging to the Malagasy ethno-linguistic group. This group is further subdivided a number of ethnic groups, often into the standard eighteen. In addition, communities of Indians in Madagascar and Arabs and Somalis have long been established on the island and have assimilated into local communities to varying degrees, in some places having long since become identified "Malagasy" ethnic groups, and in others maintaining distinct identities and cultural separation. More recent arrivals include Europeans and Chinese immigrants.

Madagascar was probably uninhabited prior to Austronesian settlement in the early centuries AD. Austronesian (particularly Malay) features are most predominant in the central highlands peoples, while coastal peoples are phenotypically more East African, sometimes with minor Arab, Somali, European and Indian admixtures. The largest coastal groups are the Betsimisaraka (1,500,000) and the Tsimihety and Sakalava (700,000 each). Malagasy society has long been polarized between the politically and economically advantaged highlanders of the central plateaux and the people along the coast. For example, in the 1970s there was widespread opposition among coastal ethnics against the policy of "Malagasization" which intended to phase out the use of the French language in public life in favour of a more prominent position for the Malagasy language, whose orthography is based on the Merina dialect. Identity politics were also at the core of the brief civil unrest during 2002.

Indians in Madagascar descend mostly from traders who arrived in the newly independent nation looking for better opportunities. The majority of them came from the west coast of India known as Karana (Muslim) and Banian (Hindu). The majority speak Hindi or Gujarati, although some other Indian dialects are also spoken. the younger generations speak at least three languages, including French, Gujarati and Malagasy. A large number of the Indians in Madagascar have a high level of education, particularly the younger generation.

A sizeable number of Europeans also reside in Madagascar, mostly of French descent.

Religion


According to the 1993 national census, 41% of Malagasies practised Christianity and 52% practise traditional religion, which tends to emphasize links between the living and the razana (ancestors); by 2020, only 4.5% of Malagasies exclusively practised folk religions and 85% were Christian (according to the Pew Research Center). The Association of Religion Data Archives noted that in 2020, 58.1% of the population is Christian, 2.1% is Muslim and 39.2% practices traditional faiths, while 0.6% of the population is non-religious or adheres to other faiths.

Madagascar's traditional religions tend to emphasize links between the living and the dead. They believe that the dead join their ancestors in the ranks of divinity and that ancestors are intensely concerned with the fate of their living descendants. This spiritual communion is celebrated by the Merina and Betsileo reburial practice of famadihana, or "turning over the dead". In this ritual, relatives' remains are removed from the family tomb, rewrapped in new silk shrouds, and returned to the tomb following festive ceremonies in their honor. In the festivities, they eat, drink, and literally dance with the dead. After one or two days of celebrating, they shower the body with gifts and rebury it. Malagasy Christians are roughly 50% Catholic and 50% Protestant (mainly Reformed Protestant Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), Lutheran, and Anglican) or Roman Catholic, but there are also smaller groups such as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Eastern Orthodox Christians and evangelicals. Many incorporate the cult of the dead with their other religious beliefs and bless their dead at church before proceeding with the traditional burial rites. They also may invite a pastor to attend a famadihana. A historical rivalry exists between the predominantly Catholic masses, considered to be underprivileged, and the predominantly Protestant Merina aristocrats, who tend to prevail in the civil service, business, and professions. Followers of Islam constitute approximately 3% of the population in 2022, according to the US Department of State; there are also small numbers of Hindus and Jews. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had more than 13,000 members in 42 congregations in Madagascar in 2013.

A small community started practicing Judaism in 2010, and formally converted in 2016 with the assistance of Kulanu, a nonprofit organization focusing on remote Jewish communities.

Freedom of religion
In 2023, the country scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom.

Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.


 * One birth every 35 seconds
 * One death every 3 minutes
 * One net migrant every 360 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 42 seconds

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

Population

 * 28,172,462 (2022 est.)
 * 25,683,610 (July 2018 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 38.86% (male 5,278,838/female 5,196,036)
 * 15-24 years: 20.06% (male 2,717,399/female 2,689,874)
 * 25-54 years: 33.02% (male 4,443,147/female 4,456,691
 * 55-64 years: 4.6% (male 611,364/female 627,315)
 * 65 years and over: 3.47% (male 425,122/female 509,951) (2020 est.)


 * 0-14 years: 39.55% (male 5,119,804 /female 5,037,438)
 * 15-24 years: 20.23% (male 2,608,996 /female 2,587,745)
 * 25-54 years: 32.42% (male 4,160,278 /female 4,166,538)
 * 55-64 years: 4.45% (male 560,072 /female 581,963)
 * 65 years and over: 3.35% (male 390,094 /female 470,682) (2018 est.)

Median age
total: 20.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 193rd male: 20.1 years female: 20.5 years (2020 est.)


 * total: 19.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 195th
 * male: 19.7 years
 * female: 20.1 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

 * 28.68 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd
 * 31 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd

Death rate

 * 6 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 159th
 * 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 147th

Total fertility rate

 * 3.55 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 3.62 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 3.95 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th

Population growth rate

 * 2.27% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 2.46% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 24th

Mother's mean age at first birth

 * 19.5 years (2008/09 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 44.4% (2018)
 * 39.8% (2012/13)

Net migration rate

 * 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 90th

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 80.1 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 75 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 19.6 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 39.9% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 4.26% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)


 * urban population: 37.2% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 4.48% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

The largest city in Madagascar is Antananarivo. The next largest cities are Toamasina, Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toliara, Antsiranana and Ambovombe.

Major infectious diseases

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

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Madagascar is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Religions
2020 figures
 * Christian (58.1%)
 * Muslim (2.1%)
 * Folk religions (39.2%)
 * No religious belief (0.6%)

(2021 est.)
 * Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar/Malagasy Lutheran Church/Anglican Church 34%
 * Roman Catholic 32.3%
 * other Christian 8.1%
 * traditional/Animist 1.7%
 * Muslim 1.4%
 * other 0.6%
 * none 21.9%

Sex ratio

 * at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
 * 15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
 * total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Nationality
noun: Malagasy (singular and plural) adjective: Malagasy

Ethnic groups
Malayo-Indonesian (Merina and related Betsileo), coastal ethnics (mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry – Betsimisaraka, Tsimihety, Antaisaka, Sakalava), French, Indian, Creole, Comorian, Chinese

Languages
Malagasy (official, and national language), French (official).

Education expenditures

 * 2.9% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 158th

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2018 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

 * total: 10 years
 * male: 10 years
 * female: 10 years (2018)