Demographics of Mauritania

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date12 Jan 2025

As of 2024, the population of Mauritania is projected at 5.17 million, compared to 5.02 million in 2023. It ranks 126th in the world by population and 39th in Africa. The population growth rate in 2024 is projected at 2.82 percent, the 17th highest among 237 countries and dependent territories.

There are 2.54 million males and 2.63 million females in Mauritania. The percentage of the male population is 49.05%, compared to 50.95% of the female population. Mauritania has 98k more females than males. The sex ratio in Mauritania in 2024 will be 96.281 males per 100 females. Mauritania is in the 74th position in terms of the female-to-male ratio.

  • Population
  • Growth rate
  • Gender

Mauritania population

Year Population Growth (%) M per 100 F
MaleFemaleTotal
1950323,868333,848657,7151.9497.011
1955360,063370,661730,7242.2597.141
1960406,738417,560824,2982.5897.408
1965467,477478,361945,8382.9297.725
1970544,252555,5541,099,8063.0597.966
1975632,856644,4751,277,3302.9498.197
1980730,913743,1301,474,0432.8598.356
1985844,990857,1161,702,1072.8998.585
1990970,341981,5371,951,8782.9298.859
19951,151,6661,160,3512,312,0172.1399.252
20001,303,2961,310,1452,613,4412.7999.477
20051,453,2051,485,8542,939,0592.4697.803
20101,658,6171,732,3483,390,9653.2295.744
20151,932,3622,033,5963,965,9593.0095.022
20202,250,1182,350,0134,600,1312.9095.749
20212,317,6152,417,2604,734,8742.8795.878
20222,388,2742,487,3634,875,6372.9896.016
20232,461,9662,560,4765,022,4412.9596.153
20242,535,7262,633,6695,169,3952.8296.281
20252,608,8022,706,2625,315,0652.7496.399
  • Life expectancy
  • Median age
  • Fertility rate

Demographics Indicators

YearLife expectancy Median ageFertility rate
195038.37816.6975.791
195540.58317.4065.923
196043.61117.6986.149
196547.36017.6956.444
197050.54416.9526.677
197551.57116.1716.713
198053.20415.8476.671
198555.80815.9006.423
199058.08716.0086.175
199558.86116.5235.962
200061.04416.5525.456
200563.92016.5415.376
201065.66116.7265.384
201566.49816.7005.211
202066.79416.8254.912
202166.76216.8934.848
202268.28116.9924.770
202368.48417.1194.697
202468.71317.2534.625
202568.93717.3884.560
  • Total
  • Crude

Mauritania death and birth rate

Year Total Crude(per 1000)
DeathBirthCrude deathCrude birth
195015,34228,30823.32643.039
195515,73732,48121.53744.450
196016,51938,12320.04046.249
196516,99145,01917.96447.597
197017,62252,00416.02347.285
197519,46658,44115.24045.753
198020,60465,63013.97844.524
198520,68272,80712.15142.775
199020,86380,79810.68941.395
199523,79396,03610.29141.538
200023,15799,0858.86137.914
200522,024112,9667.49438.436
201023,921132,0407.05438.939
201527,734149,8276.99337.778
202029,488164,3876.41035.735
202129,781167,3406.29035.342
202227,435169,8865.62734.844
202327,725172,8855.52034.423
202427,985175,9145.41434.030
202528,262178,9005.31733.659
  • Population
  • Urbanization

Urban and rural population of Mauritania

Year Population Urban (%)
UrbanRural
195020,490640,0013.102
195534,636712,1684.638
196059,044799,1246.880
1965100,130892,23710.090
1970167,332981,57614.564
1975273,2991,055,38720.569
1980419,9001,114,18527.371
1985619,3751,150,56734.994
1990798,3071,231,83339.323
1995900,7031,426,37238.705
20001,032,0341,677,32538.091
20051,318,3681,812,35242.111
20101,681,6211,927,92246.588
20152,136,6992,045,64251.089
20202,646,7142,137,05355.327
20212,754,9462,152,96556.133
20222,865,1712,168,20756.923
20232,977,2872,182,78557.699
20243,091,1762,196,70158.458
  • Population pyramid
  • Gender ratio

Mauritania population by Age Group (2024)

Age group Male Female Total M per 100 F
PersonsShare (%)
00-04 412,319 402,123 814,442 15.76 102.536
05-09 371,495 363,058 734,553 14.21 102.324
10-14 333,981 324,937 658,917 12.75 102.783
15-19 280,805 280,335 561,140 10.86 100.168
20-24 225,800 235,436 461,236 8.92 95.907
25-29 186,607 201,325 387,932 7.50 92.689
30-34 155,507 171,815 327,322 6.33 90.508
35-39 129,620 145,728 275,349 5.33 88.947
40-44 105,065 120,822 225,887 4.37 86.959
45-49 85,204 99,694 184,898 3.58 85.466
50-54 71,270 81,933 153,202 2.96 86.986
55-59 57,282 65,218 122,499 2.37 87.832
60-64 44,605 50,525 95,130 1.84 88.283
65-69 32,585 37,224 69,809 1.35 87.538
70-74 21,369 25,077 46,446 0.90 85.214
75-79 12,636 15,575 28,210 0.55 81.130
80-84 6,389 8,246 14,636 0.28 77.480
85-89 2,437 3,368 5,805 0.11 72.357
90-94 620 1,006 1,625 0.03 61.630
95-99 120 207 328 0.01 57.971
100+ 11 21 32 0.00 52.381
Total 2,535,727 2,633,673 5,169,398 96.281