Population:
1,772,255
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 2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 153
Nationality:
noun: Gabonese (singular and plural)
adjective: Gabonese
Ethnic groups:
Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba); other Africans and Europeans, 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality
Languages:
French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Religions:
Roman Catholic 42.3%, Protestant 12.3%, other Christian 27.4%, Muslim 9.8%, animist 0.6%, other 0.5%, none/no answer 7.1% (2012 est.)
Demographic profile:
Gabon’s oil revenues have given it one of the highest per capita income levels in sub-Saharan Africa, but the wealth is not evenly distributed and poverty is widespread. Unemployment is especially prevalent among the large youth population; more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. With a fertility rate still averaging more than 4 children per woman, the youth population will continue to grow and further strain the mismatch between Gabon’s supply of jobs and the skills of its labor force.
Gabon has been a magnet to migrants from neighboring countries since the 1960s because of the discovery of oil, as well as the country’s political stability and timber, mineral, and natural gas resources. Nonetheless, income inequality and high unemployment have created slums in Libreville full of migrant workers from Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, and elsewhere in West Africa. In 2011, Gabon declared an end to refugee status for 9,500 remaining Congolese nationals to whom it had granted asylum during the Republic of the Congo’s civil war between 1997 and 2003. About 5,400 of these refugees received permits to reside in Gabon.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.9% (male 373,307/female 369,237)
15-24 years: 20.46% (male 181,823/female 180,837)
25-54 years: 29.52% (male 262,511/female 260,673)
55-64 years: 4.36% (male 37,178/female 40,014)
65 years and over: 3.76% (male 28,664/female 38,011) (2017 est.)
population pyramid:
Africa ::GABON
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: 67.4
youth dependency ratio: 59.9
elderly dependency ratio: 7.6
potential support ratio: 13.2 (2015 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.6 years
male: 18.4 years
female: 18.8 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 208
Population growth rate:
1.92% (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 51
Birth rate:
34.2 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 24
Death rate:
13 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 15
Net migration rate:
-2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 161
Population distribution:
the relatively small population is spread in pockets throughout the country; the largest urban center is the capital of Libreville, located along the Atlantic coast in the northwest
Urbanization:
urban population: 87.6% of total population (2017)
rate of urbanization: 2.38% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major urban areas - population:
LIBREVILLE (capital) 707,000 (2015)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2017 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth:
20.3 years
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2012 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio:
291 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 42
Infant mortality rate:
total: 44.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 50.8 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 37.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 42
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.1 years
male: 51.7 years
female: 52.5 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 221
Total fertility rate:
4.39 children born/woman (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 23
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
31.1% (2012)
Health expenditures:
3.4% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 175
Physicians density:
0.41 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density:
6.3 beds/1,000 population (2010)
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 97.2% of population
rural: 66.7% of population
total: 93.2% of population
unimproved:
urban: 2.8% of population
rural: 33.3% of population
total: 6.8% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 43.4% of population
rural: 31.5% of population
total: 41.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 56.6% of population
rural: 68.5% of population
total: 58.1% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
3.6% (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 16
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
48,000 (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 57
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,500 (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria and dengue fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
15% (2016)
country comparison to the world: 127
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
6.5% (2012)
country comparison to the world: 79
Education expenditures:
2.7% of GDP (2014)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.2%
male: 85.3%
female: 81% (2015 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total: 35.7%
male: 30.5%
female: 41.9% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 24