Zimbabwe Demographics Profile 2008

Population

12,382,920
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: 37% (male 2,314,527/female 2,270,998)
15-64 years: 59.4% (male 3,704,689/female 3,656,173)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 197,821/female 238,712) (2008 est.)

Median age

total: 20.3 years
male: 20.2 years
female: 20.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

0.568% (2008 est.)

Birth rate

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

Death rate

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

Net migration rate

NA
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 50.58 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.29 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 47.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 39.73 years
male: 40.87 years
female: 38.55 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.03 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

24.6% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

1.8 million (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

170,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

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

Nationality

noun: Zimbabwean(s)
adjective: Zimbabwean

Ethnic groups

African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%

Religions

syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%

Languages

English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write English
total population: 90.7%
male: 94.2%
female: 87.2% (2003 est.)