Demographics of Zambia

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date12 Dec 2024

As of 2024, the population of Zambia is projected at 21.31 million, compared to 20.72 million in 2023. It ranks 63rd in the world by population and 22nd in Africa. The population growth rate in 2024 is projected at 2.79 percent, the 18th highest among 237 countries and dependent territories.

There are 10.55 million males and 10.76 million females in Zambia. The percentage of the male population is 49.5%, compared to 50.5% of the female population. Zambia has 214k more females than males. The sex ratio in Zambia in 2024 will be 98.008 males per 100 females. Zambia is in the 112th position in terms of the female-to-male ratio.

  • Population
  • Growth rate
  • Gender

Zambia population

Year Population Growth (%) M per 100 F
MaleFemaleTotal
19501,153,9851,167,3182,321,3023.0798.858
19551,341,8341,361,7082,703,5433.0598.541
19601,562,9641,590,7653,153,7293.1298.252
19651,827,1051,864,9823,692,0863.1997.969
19702,133,0092,188,7094,321,7182.7397.455
19752,441,3722,548,7154,990,0863.0395.788
19802,822,2692,980,5645,802,8333.0094.689
19853,295,3343,485,6196,780,9532.9994.541
19903,772,8024,013,3677,786,1692.5394.006
19954,239,2804,546,4838,785,7632.4293.243
20004,842,2815,175,35010,017,6312.8893.564
20055,714,7586,004,06111,718,8193.4595.182
20106,876,7677,088,82713,965,5943.3797.009
20158,101,7368,297,35316,399,0893.0997.642
20209,433,2379,626,15819,059,3952.8697.996
20219,702,8429,900,76619,603,6072.7798.001
20229,973,85710,179,08120,152,9382.7597.984
202310,256,24810,467,71720,723,9652.8397.980
202410,550,24010,764,71521,314,9562.7998.008
202510,848,17911,065,69521,913,8742.7598.034
  • Life expectancy
  • Median age
  • Fertility rate

Demographics Indicators

YearLife expectancy Median ageFertility rate
195046.80316.4356.779
195548.75616.2206.803
196050.64815.8796.947
196552.07915.4597.116
197053.40415.1537.224
197555.74214.4957.421
198055.49614.2177.139
198552.00114.4406.928
199048.20414.6376.567
199546.05114.7216.232
200046.57714.7985.921
200551.61515.2005.697
201056.89615.6195.359
201560.72816.1154.775
202063.36116.9364.323
202162.36317.1084.246
202265.27917.2884.175
202366.34917.4904.101
202466.52817.7094.036
202566.70017.9353.970
  • Total
  • Crude

Zambia death and birth rate

Year Total Crude(per 1000)
DeathBirthCrude deathCrude birth
195043,741116,32118.84350.110
195548,024132,92417.76349.167
196052,029154,36516.49848.947
196557,497180,31015.57348.837
197063,784213,16614.75949.324
197567,017249,27413.43049.954
198076,941275,75813.25947.521
1985100,371321,72114.80247.445
1990129,870365,70916.68046.969
1995152,882410,77817.40146.755
2000162,269455,45016.19845.465
2005144,969513,72412.37143.838
2010129,747578,0719.29041.393
2015121,381612,4107.40237.344
2020119,310655,7976.26034.408
2021129,518665,1546.60733.930
2022112,518675,9735.58333.542
2023107,917685,5655.20733.081
2024110,084697,5185.16532.724
2025112,472708,9345.13232.351
  • Population
  • Urbanization

Urban and rural population of Zambia

Year Population Urban (%)
UrbanRural
1950265,7012,044,74111.500
1955382,2362,252,22814.509
1960552,4922,492,35418.145
1965832,8502,730,55723.372
19701,266,8412,907,08730.351
19751,734,4323,230,39934.934
19802,344,8123,544,41839.815
19852,758,1094,197,10339.655
19903,163,2844,863,96939.407
19953,390,2435,746,83437.104
20003,665,1286,866,09334.802
20054,448,5597,603,59736.911
20105,450,6678,399,36639.355
20156,747,2369,353,35141.907
20208,336,38110,342,89244.629
20218,692,60210,542,18945.192
20229,062,29110,741,32845.761
20239,445,88810,940,23746.335
20249,843,87811,138,88646.914
  • Population pyramid
  • Gender ratio

Zambia population by Age Group (2024)

Age group Male Female Total M per 100 F
PersonsShare (%)
00-04 1,602,976 1,600,636 3,203,612 15.03 100.146
05-09 1,459,858 1,460,881 2,920,739 13.70 99.930
10-14 1,354,487 1,357,776 2,712,264 12.72 99.758
15-19 1,196,213 1,205,367 2,401,579 11.27 99.241
20-24 995,292 1,011,193 2,006,485 9.41 98.428
25-29 850,213 865,528 1,715,741 8.05 98.231
30-34 728,714 738,117 1,466,831 6.88 98.726
35-39 631,982 633,262 1,265,244 5.94 99.798
40-44 522,482 520,961 1,043,444 4.90 100.292
45-49 413,072 419,639 832,711 3.91 98.435
50-54 294,685 313,676 608,362 2.85 93.946
55-59 199,393 226,122 425,515 2.00 88.179
60-64 134,095 163,385 297,480 1.40 82.073
65-69 83,826 112,969 196,794 0.92 74.203
70-74 47,129 71,942 119,070 0.56 65.510
75-79 22,648 37,569 60,218 0.28 60.284
80-84 9,482 17,532 27,015 0.13 54.084
85-89 2,979 6,296 9,275 0.04 47.316
90-94 619 1,577 2,196 0.01 39.252
95-99 88 260 348 0.00 33.846
100+ 7 26 33 0.00 26.923
Total 10,550,240 10,764,714 21,314,956 98.008