Namibia Demographics Profile 2008

Population

2,088,669
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 36.7% (male 386,252/female 379,426)
15-64 years: 59.5% (male 627,752/female 615,241)
65 years and over: 3.8% (male 35,960/female 44,038) (2008 est.)

Median age

total: 20.7 years
male: 20.6 years
female: 20.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

0.947% (2008 est.)

Birth rate

23.19 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate

14.07 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate

0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 45.64 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 49.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 41.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 49.89 years
male: 50.39 years
female: 49.38 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.81 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

21.3% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

210,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

16,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Nationality

noun: Namibian(s)
adjective: Namibian

Ethnic groups

black 87.5%, white 6%, mixed 6.5%
note: about 50% of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% to the Kavangos tribe; other ethnic groups include Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana 0.5%

Religions

Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%

Languages

English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages 1% (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85%
male: 86.8%
female: 83.5% (2001 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2006)

Education expenditures

6.9% of GDP (2003)