Demographics & population — Zambia
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 Zambia: 17,426,623
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
17,426,623
- Population - note
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
- Population Growth Rate
2.89%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
LUSAKA (capital) 1.802 million
Age & family
- Age Structure
- Median Age
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
43
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
13.17
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
5.81
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
40.8%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
40.8%
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
-0.75
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%
- Nationality Noun
Zambian(s)
Education
- Literacy - total population
80.6%
- Literacy - male
86.8%
- Literacy - female
74.8%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write English
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
1.3%
- 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
440
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
.07
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
2
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
6.1%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
very high
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
3.6%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
14.9%