Demographics of Burundi

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This article is about the demographic features of the population of Burundi, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

At 206.1 persons per km², Burundi has the second-largest population density in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most people live on farms near areas of fertile volcanic soil. The population is made up of three major ethnic groups – Hutu (Bahutu), Tutsi (Batutsi or Watusi), and Twa (Batwa). Kirundi is the common language. Intermarriage takes place frequently between the Hutus and Tutsis. The terms "pastoralist" and "agriculturist", often used as ethnic designations for Watusi and Bahutu, respectively, are only occupational titles which vary among individuals and groups. Although Hutus encompass the majority of the population, historically Tutsis have been politically and economically dominant.

Population[]

According to the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects^[1][2], the total population was 11,891,000 in 2020, compared to only 2 309 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was 45.3%, 52.4% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.4% of the population was 65 years or older. .^[3]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	2 309 000	40.9	55.9	3.2
1955	2 537 000	42.4	54.5	3.1
1960	2 798 000	43.8	53.2	2.9
1965	3 094 000	45.3	51.8	3.0
1970	3 479 000	45.5	51.5	3.0
1975	3 701 000	45.4	51.3	3.3
1980	4 157 000	44.7	52.2	3.1
1985	4 751 000	46.2	50.9	3.0
1990	5 439 000	47.9	49.3	2.8
1995	5 987 000	50.3	47.1	2.5
2000	6 379 000	50.1	47.4	2.5
2005	7 365 000	47.0	50.7	2.3
2010	8 676 000	45.1	52.7	2.2
2015	10 160 000	45.5	52.4	2.1
2020	11 891 000	45.3	52.4	2.4

UN population projections[]

Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections^[3]

• 2020 11,891
• 2025 13,764
• 2030 15,773
• 2035 17,932
• 2040 20,253
• 2045 22,728
• 2050 25,325

Vital statistics[]

Registration of vital events is in Burundi not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[3]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	121 000	61 400	59 600	50.0	25.4	24.6	6.80	166
1955-1960	130 000	63 800	66 200	48.8	24.0	24.8	6.86	157
1960-1965	142 600	66 400	76 200	48.4	22.5	25.9	7.05	149
1965-1970	158 000	69 400	88 600	48.0	21.1	26.9	7.23	140
1970-1975	171 400	73 800	97 600	47.7	20.5	27.2	7.26	136
1975-1980	197 400	76 000	121 400	50.2	19.4	30.9	7.40	132
1980-1985	229 000	82 400	146 600	51.4	18.5	32.9	7.38	117
1985-1990	261 000	87 400	173 600	51.2	17.1	34.1	7.46	104
1990-1995	273 800	100 200	173 600	47.9	17.5	30.4	7.30	111
1995-2000	271 000	101 600	169 400	43.8	16.4	27.4	7.05	103
2000-2005	294 400	92 200	202 200	42.8	13.4	29.4	6.77	88
2005-2010	346 000	90 000	256 000	43.1	11.2	31.9	6.39	70
2010-2015	397 400	86 600	310 800	42.2	9.2	33.0	5.95	52
2015-2020	432 800	88 600	344 200	39.3	8.0	31.2	5.45	42
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000; CBR-CDR); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Fertility and births[]

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^{[4][5] [6]}

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1987		6.6 (5.3)		5.2 (4.2)		6.6 (5.4)
2010	44.5	6.4 (4.2)	37.3	4.8 (3.4)	45.3	6.6 (4.3)
2016-17	37.9	5.5 (3.6)	33.0	4.1 (3.0)	38.5	5.7 (3.7)

Fertility data as of 2010 (DHS Program):^[5] The fertility rate in the Bujumbura Mairie Province fell to 3.7 by 2016-2017; the other regions were not aggregated in the report, for easy reference and comparison to the below chart.^[6] Per the 2016-2017 report, the average number of desired children in Burundi, nationwide, by both men and women of 15 to 49 years of age who are either paired up or married, is 4 children or less, and slightly less for men than for women. Per the report, this suggests an excess fecundity (more children than desired) of 1.8 children per couple nationwide; 1.1 in urban areas (where 3.0 children are desired, and the fertility rate is 4.1) and 2.0 in rural areas (where 3.7 children are desired and the fertility rate is 5.7). However, the number of desired children appears to be based on the lowest-desired rate - that of paired but unmarried men (3.7 children) rather than the highest (4.0, desired by married women) or even an overall average.^[6]

Region	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Bujumbura Mairie	4.2	7.9%	5.3
Nord	6.7	10.1%	6.4
Centre-Est	6.3	10.5%	6.6
Ouest	7.1	11.7%	7.2
Sud	6.2	10.8%	6.8

Life expectancy at Birth[]

Period	Life expectancy in Years[7]
1950–1955	39.03
1955–1960	40.52
1960–1965	42.03
1965–1970	43.53
1970–1975	44.23
1975–1980	46.29
1980–1985	47.28
1985–1990	48.51
1990–1995	47.04
1995–2000	47.31
2000–2005	51.42
2005–2010	55.27
2010–2015	58.92
2015–2020	61.02

Other demographic statistics[]

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.^[8]

• One birth every 1 minutes
• One death every 5 minutes
• One net migrant every 144 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 1 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[9]

Population[]

12,241,065 (July 2021 est.)

10,742,276 (July 2015 est.)

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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2015 est.)

Age structure[]

0-14 years: 43.83% (male 2,618,868/female 2,581,597)

15-24 years: 19.76% (male 1,172,858/female 1,171,966)

25-54 years: 29.18% (male 1,713,985/female 1,748,167)

55-64 years: 4.17% (male 231,088/female 264,131)

65 years and over: 3.06% (male 155,262/female 207,899) (2020 est.)

Median age[]

Total: 17.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 217th

Male: 17.4 years

Female: 18.0 years (2020 est.)

Total: 17.0 years

Male: 16.8 years

Female: 17.2 years (2015 est.)

Population growth rate[]

3.68% (2021 est.)

3.28% (2015 est.)

Total fertility rate[]

5.1 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Birth rate[]

35.48 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 16th

Death rate[]

6.07 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate[]

7.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

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

Population distribution[]

One of Africa's most densely populated countries; concentrations tend to be in the north and along the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika in the west; most people live on farms near areas of fertile volcanic soil

Urbanization[]

Urban population: 13.7% of total population (2020)

Rate of urbanization: 5.68% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth[]

21.3 years (2010 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Sex ratio[]

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth[]

Total population: 67.07 years Country comparison to the world: 150th

male: 64.98 years

female: 69.22 years (2021 est.)

Total population: 60.9 years

Male: 59.2 years

Female: 62.7 years (2017 est.)

Dependency ratios[]

Total dependency ratio: 91.0

Youth dependency ratio: 86.4

Elderly dependency ratio: 4.5

Potential support ratio: 22.0 (2020 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate[]

28.5% (2016/17)

HIV/AIDS[]

Adult prevalence rate: 1.2% (2019 est.) Country comparison to the world (37th)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 85,000 (2019 est.)

Deaths: 1,800 (2019 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight[]

27.2% (2018/2019)

Major infectious diseases[]

Degree of risk: very high

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne disease: malaria and dengue fever

Water contact disease: schistosomiasis

Animal contact disease: rabies (2020)

Nationality[]

Noun: Burundian(s)

Adjective: Burundian

Ethnic groups[]

Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1% Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 ^[10]

Religions[]

Roman Catholic 62.1%, Protestant 23.9% (includes Adventist 2.3% and other Protestant 21.6%), Islam 2.5%, Other 3.6%, Unspecified 7.9% (2008 est.)

Languages[]

Kirundi (official) only: 29.7%, French (official) only: 0.3%, Kirundi and French: 8.4%, Kurundi, French and English: 2.4%, Swahili only: 0.2%, other language combinations: 2%, unspecified: 56.9% (2008 est.)

NOTE: Data represents only languages read and written by people 10 years of age or older; spoken Kirundi is nearly universal.

Literacy[]

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 68.4%

Male: 76.3%

Female: 61.2% (2017 est.)

Education expenditure[]

5.1% of GDP (2018)

References[]

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 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document: "2008 edition".