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Solomon Islands Demographics Profile

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Population690,598 (July 2021 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Solomon Islander(s)

adjective: Solomon Islander
Ethnic groupsMelanesian 95.3%, Polynesian 3.1%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 0.3% (2009 est.)
LanguagesMelanesian pidgin (in much of the country is lingua franca), English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population), 120 indigenous languages
ReligionsProtestant 73.4% (Church of Melanesia 31.9%, South Sea Evangelical 17.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.7%, United Church 10.1%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.5%), Roman Catholic 19.6%, other Christian 2.9%, other 4%, unspecified 0.1% (2009 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 32.99% (male 116,397/female 109,604)

15-24 years: 19.82% (male 69,914/female 65,874)

25-54 years: 37.64% (male 131,201/female 126,681)

55-64 years: 5.04% (male 17,844/female 16,704)

65 years and over: 4.51% (male 14,461/female 16,417) (2020 est.)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 77.6

youth dependency ratio: 71.1

elderly dependency ratio: 6.5

potential support ratio: 15.3 (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 23.5 years

male: 23.2 years

female: 23.7 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate1.75% (2021 est.)
Birth rate23.07 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate3.97 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Population distributionmost of the population lives along the coastal regions; about one in five live in urban areas, and of these some two-thirds reside in Honiara, the largest town and chief port
Urbanizationurban population: 25.1% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major cities - population82,000 HONIARA (capital) (2018)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female

total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth22.6 years (2015 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29
Maternal mortality rate104 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 20.52 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 24.49 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 16.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 76.45 years

male: 73.78 years

female: 79.25 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate2.92 children born/woman (2021 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate29.3% (2015)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 95% of population

rural: 67.1% of population

total: 73.6% of population

unimproved: urban: 5% of population

rural: 32.9% of population

total: 26.4% of population (2017 est.)
Health expenditures4.5% (2018)
Physicians density0.19 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density1.4 beds/1,000 population (2012)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 95.6% of population

rural: 22% of population

total: 39.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 4.4% of population

rural: 78% of population

total: 60.9% of population (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rateNA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDSNA
HIV/AIDS - deathsNA
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases: malaria
Obesity - adult prevalence rate22.5% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight16.2% (2015)
Education expenditures9.9% of GDP (2010)

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021