Sri Lanka Demographics Profile 2009

Population

21,324,791
note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West (July 2009 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 23.9% (male 2,594,815/female 2,493,002)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,089,307/female 7,418,123)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 803,172/female 926,372) (2009 est.)

Median age

total: 30.9 years
male: 29.9 years
female: 31.8 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

0.904% (2009 est.)

Birth rate

16.26 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate

6.13 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate

-1.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 15% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 0.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 18.57 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.33 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.14 years
male: 73.08 years
female: 77.28 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.99 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

3,800 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne disease: dengue fever and chikungunya
water contact disease: leptospirosis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality

noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan

Ethnic groups

Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Religions

Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.7%
male: 92.3%
female: 89.1% (2001 census)

Education expenditures

NA