Demographics of Zimbabwe

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

Population

The population of Zimbabwe has grown during the 20th century in accordance with the model of a developing country with high birth rates and falling death rates, resulting in relatively high population growth rate (around 3% or above in the 1960s and early 1970s). After a spurt in the period 1980-1983 following independence, a decline in birth rates set in. Since 1991, however, there has been a jump in death rates from a low of 10 per 1000 in 1985 to a high of 25 per 1000 in 2002/2003. It has since subsided to just under 22 per 1000 (estimate for 2007) a little below the birth rate of around 27 per 1000.[1][2]

The high death rate is due to the impact of AIDS, which is by far the main cause of death. This leads to a small natural increase of around 0.5%. However, outward migration rates of around 1.5% or more have been experienced for over a decade, therefore actual population changes are uncertain. Because of the high number of unaccounted emigrants, the recent increase of emigration and the death toll from AIDS, the total population might be declining to as low as 8 million according to some estimates.[3]

Census data

Historical data of Southern Rhodesia

Census
Year Black White Coloured Asian
1911 744,559 23,606 2,912
1921 862,319 33,620 1,998 1,250
Estimates
Year Black White
1890 700,000
1910 900,000 20,000
1927 922,000 38,200
1930 1,300,000
1945 1,400,000? 140,000
1946 1,640,000 80,500

Current estimates

Based on a 2010 revision of World Population Prospects, the population of Zimbabwe was estimated by the United Nations at 12,576,000 in 2010. About 38.9% comprised youths under 15, while another 56.9% grouped persons aged between 15 and 65 years. Only around 4.2% of citizens were apparently over 65.[4]

Total population (x 1000) Population aged 0–14 (%) Population aged 15–64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 2 74742.054.83.2
1955 3 20443.852.93.3
1960 3 75245.351.43.4
1965 4 42247.749.03.3
1970 5 20648.148.73.2
1975 6 17048.448.53.1
1980 7 28948.948.13.0
1985 8 85547.949.13.0
1990 10 46946.150.93.0
1995 11 68544.352.53.2
2000 12 50941.754.93.4
2005 12 71040.156.13.8
2010 13 08038.956.94.2

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Zimbabwe is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [4]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR* CDR* NC* TFR* IMR*
1950-1955 144 000 52 000 92 00048.317.430.96.80115
1955-1960 167 000 56 000 111 00048.116.231.87.00105
1960-1965 197 000 61 000 136 00048.215.033.37.3097
1965-1970 229 000 66 000 162 00047.513.733.77.4090
1970-1975 271 000 72 000 199 00047.612.635.07.4083
1975-1980 320 000 76 000 244 00047.611.336.37.3074
1980-1985 363 000 78 000 285 00044.99.635.36.7464
1985-1990 381 000 83 000 299 00039.58.630.95.6656
1990-1995 390 000 108 000 281 00035.29.825.44.7755
1995-2000 381 000 176 000 205 00031.514.516.94.0565
2000-2005 372 000 220 000 152 00029.717.512.13.7468
2005-2010 370 000 190 000 180 00029.415.114.33.4759
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Fertility and Births

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

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
1982-1984 6.66 5.33 7.28
1985-1988 5.31 3.86 6.06
1994 31.6 4.29 (3.5) 30.5 3.09 (2.6) 32.0 4.85 (3.9)
1999 30.8 3.96 (3.4) 31.3 2.96 (2.6) 30.5 4.57 (3.8)
2005-2006 31.0 3.8 (3.3) 28.5 2.6 (2.3) 32.0 4.6 (3.9)
2010-2011 34 4.1 (3.4) 34 3.1 (2.7) 34 4.8 (4.0)
2015 32.0 4.0 31.1 3.0 32.7 4.7

Ethnic groups

According to 2012 Census report, 99.7% of the population is of African origin.[7] Of the rest of the population, the great bulk—perhaps 30,000 persons[8][9][10]—are white Zimbabweans of European ancestry, a minority which had already diminished in size prior to independence.[11]

The vast black majority has grown at a projected annual rate of 4.3% since 1980.[12] Although present figures are difficult to ascertain, the white community once reproduced itself at an annual rate (under 1.5%) similar to that of most totals in developed nations.[13] Of the two major ethnolinguistic categories, Shona speakers formed a decisive plurality and occupied the eastern two-thirds of Zimbabwe.[14] Ndebele speakers constitute about 16%, and none of the other indigenous ethnic groups came to as much as 2% in recent decades.[15] African speakers of nonindigenous languages included migrant workers from Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.[16]

Three-quarters of white Zimbabweans are of British or British diasporan origin; at various times many emigrated from South Africa and elsewhere.[13] After World War II, Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) received a substantial influx of emigrants from the United Kingdom—a handful previously resided in other colonies such as Pakistan and Kenya. Also represented on a much smaller scale were individuals of Afrikaner, Greek, and Portuguese origin.[11] After Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, Ian Smith's administration removed technical obstacles to immigration from southern Europe.[13]

A heavily urbanised Coloured population is descended, partially, from early unions between White Rhodesian settlers and local Black African females. Many, however, can also trace their ancestry to the Dutch/Khoisan mulatto clans of the Cape.

With the exception of a select few who were brought to Zimbabwe as railroad workers, most Asians in Zimbabwe arrived from India pursuing employment or entrepreneurship. An educated class, they have traditionally engaged in retail trade or manufacturing.[13]

Languages

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages: Chewa, Tonga, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa.[17] English is also one of the official language of Zimbabwe and is widely used in administration, law and schools, though less than 2.5%, mainly the white and Coloured (mixed race) minorities, consider it their native language. The rest of the population speak Shona (70%) and Ndebele (20%), Kalanga (2%), etc.[18] Shona has a rich oral tradition, which was incorporated into the first Shona novel, Feso by Solomon Mutswairo, published in 1956.[19] English is spoken primarily in the cities, but less so in rural areas. Television news is broadcast in English, Shona and Ndebele though the local languages time slot falls out of prime viewing time, but radio broadcasts in English, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Nambya, Venda, Suthu and Tonga. English, Ndebele and Shona are given far more airtime.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Zimbabwe

85 percent of Zimbabweans are Christian, and of that number, 61 percent regularly attend Christian churches.[20] The largest Christian churches are Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Methodist. However like most former European colonies, Christianity is often mixed with enduring traditional beliefs. Besides Christianity, ancestral worship (Amadlozi) is the most practised non-Christian religion which involves ancestor worship and spiritual intercession. Under 1% of the population is Muslim, although many Zimbabweans are influenced by Islamic food laws.

Health

According to the United Nations World Health Organization, the average life expectancy for men in 2006 was 37 years and for women was 34 years of age, the lowest in the world at the time.[21] An association of doctors in Zimbabwe have made calls for President Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service.[22] Since then it has recovered, and the figures for 2010 to 2015 were 53 and 54 for men and women respectively.[23]

Demographic statistics from the CIA World Factbook

Ethnic groups [24]

Languages[24]

Religions[24]

Population

Population growth rate

Birth rate

Death rate

Net migration rate

Urbanization

Sex ratio

(2011 est.)

Percentage of population malnourished

AIDS

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy

Nationality

See also

Zimbabwe

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Zimbabwe.
  1. ↑ Statesman's Yearbook 2007, Palgrave Macmillan, New York
  2. ↑ CIA Factbook 2007, CIA Publications, Washington D.C.
  3. ↑ "The Independent". The Independent.
  4. 1 2 "World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision". United Nations.
  5. ↑ "Cambodia - Demographic and Health Survey 2010". worldbank.org.
  6. ↑ http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR251/OD43.pdf
  7. 1 2 http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/CensusResults2012/National_Report.pdf
  8. ↑ "Zimbabwe's only white minster [sic] says insults against whites continue at top government level". Fox News.
  9. ↑ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld - Zimbabwe: Dual citizenship". Refworld.
  10. ↑ "Teens assaulted in police raid on nightclub". newzimbabwe.com.
  11. 1 2 Raeburn, Michael. We are everywhere: Narratives from Rhodesian guerillas. pp. 1–209.
  12. ↑ "Zimbabwe Population growth rate". indexmundi.com.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Nelson, Harold. Zimbabwe: A Country Study. pp. 80–137.
  14. ↑ "The People of Zimbabwe". Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  15. ↑ Famighetti, Robert. The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1996. p. 837.
  16. ↑ "The Land Act's Losers". postcolonialweb.org.
  17. ↑ The following languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa, are the officially recognised languages of Zimbabwe. (CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE (final draft)).
  18. ↑ Zimbabwe GAP Adventures
  19. ↑ Mother Tongue: Interviews with Musaemura B. Zimunya and Solomon Mutswairo University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  20. ↑ "MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  21. ↑ The World Health Organization. "Annex Table 1 - Basic indicators for all Member States". The World Health Report 2006 (PDF).
  22. ↑ Peta Thornycroft (2006-04-10). "In Zimbabwe, life ends before 40". Harare: Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-04-10.
  23. ↑ "United Nations Statistics Division". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 "Africa :: ZIMBABWE". CIA The World Factbook.
  25. ↑ http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/Census.pdf
  26. ↑ http://www.zimstat.co.zw/dmdocuments/Census/ZDHSOLD/ZDHS2006.pdf

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2007 edition".

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