Population:
1,792,338 (July 2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 152
Nationality:
noun: Bissau-Guinean(s)
adjective: Bissau-Guinean
Ethnic groups:
Fulani 28.5%, Balanta 22.5%, Mandinga 14.7%, Papel 9.1%, Manjaco 8.3%, Beafada 3.5%, Mancanha 3.1%, Bijago 2.1%, Felupe 1.7%, Mansoanca 1.4%, Balanta Mane 1%, other 1.8%, none 2.2% (2008 est.)
Languages:
Crioulo (lingua franca), Portuguese (official; largely used as a second or third language), Pular (a Fula language), Mandingo
Religions:
Muslim 45.1%, Christian 22.1%, animist 14.9%, none 2%, unspecified 15.9% (2008 est.)
Demographic profile:
Guinea-Bissau’s young and growing population is sustained by high fertility; approximately 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Its large reproductive-age population and total fertility rate of more than 4 children per woman offsets the country’s high infant and maternal mortality rates. The latter is among the world’s highest because of the prevalence of early childbearing, a lack of birth spacing, the high percentage of births outside of health care facilities, and a shortage of medicines and supplies.
Guinea-Bissau’s history of political instability, a civil war, and several coups (the latest in 2012) have resulted in a fragile state with a weak economy, high unemployment, rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and thriving drug and child trafficking. With the country lacking educational infrastructure, school funding and materials, and qualified teachers, and with the cultural emphasis placed on religious education, parents frequently send boys to study in residential Koranic schools (daaras) in Senegal and The Gambia. They often are extremely deprived and are forced into street begging or agricultural work by marabouts (Muslim religious teachers), who enrich themselves at the expense of the children. Boys who leave their marabouts often end up on the streets of Dakar or other large Senegalese towns and are vulnerable to even worse abuse.
Some young men lacking in education and job prospects become involved in the flourishing international drug trade. Local drug use and associated violent crime are growing.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39.03% (male 349,256/female 350,327)
15-24 years: 20.18% (male 179,389/female 182,242)
25-54 years: 32.77% (male 292,736/female 294,526)
55-64 years: 4.57% (male 32,156/female 49,761)
65 years and over: 3.46% (male 22,574/female 39,371) (2017 est.)
population pyramid:
Africa ::GUINEA-BISSAU
Population Pyramid
A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 80.4
youth dependency ratio: 75.2
elderly dependency ratio: 5.2
potential support ratio: 19.3 (2015 est.)
Median age:
total: 20.1 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20.6 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 189
Population growth rate:
1.86% (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 53
Birth rate:
32.5 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 30
Death rate:
13.9 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 6
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 84
Population distribution:
approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast; the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions
Urbanization:
urban population: 50.8% of total population (2017)
rate of urbanization: 3.69% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major urban areas - population:
BISSAU (capital) 492,000 (2015)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.62 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2017 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio:
549 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 18
Infant mortality rate:
total: 85.7 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 95.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 76 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 51 years
male: 48.9 years
female: 53.1 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 223
Total fertility rate:
4.09 children born/woman (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
16% (2014)
Health expenditures:
5.6% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 123
Physicians density:
0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2009)
Hospital bed density:
1 beds/1,000 population (2009)
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 98.8% of population
rural: 60.3% of population
total: 79.3% of population
unimproved:
urban: 1.2% of population
rural: 39.7% of population
total: 20.7% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 33.5% of population
rural: 8.5% of population
total: 20.8% of population
unimproved:
urban: 66.5% of population
rural: 91.5% of population
total: 79.2% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
3.1% (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 20
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
36,000 (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 62
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2,000 (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 52
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
9.5% (2016)
country comparison to the world: 144
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
17% (2014)
country comparison to the world: 35
Education expenditures:
2.1% of GDP (2013)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.9%
male: 71.8%
female: 48.3% (2015 est.)