Demographics & population — Syria
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Syria: 19,398,448
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
19,398,448
- Population - note
note: approximately 20,500 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights
- Population Growth Rate
0.15%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
- Aleppo 3.164 million
- DAMASCUS (capital) 2.65 million
- Hims 1.369 million
- Hamah 933,000
Age & family
- Age Structure
- Median Age
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
23
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
3.67
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
2.77
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
58.3%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
58.3%
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
-17.89
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
- Nationality Noun
Syrian(s)
Education
- Literacy - total population
76.9%
- Literacy - male
89.7%
- Literacy - female
64%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
5.1%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
70
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
1
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
1.5
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
3.7%
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
27.1%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
10.1%
