Demographics of Mauritania

Demographic features of the population of Mauritania (Arabic: التركيبة السكانية في موريتانيا) include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

Demographics of Mauritania
Population pyramid of Mauritania in 2020
Population	5,169,342 (2024 est.)
Growth rate	1.99% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	28.06 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	7.43 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	65.22 years
• male	62.77 years
• female	67.75 years
Fertility rate	4.40 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	50.99 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	40.92%
15–64 years	55.87%
65 and over	3.21%
Nationality
Nationality	Mauritanian
Major ethnic	Haratin Afro-Arabs
Minor ethnic	Fula Wolof Toucouleur Others
Language
Official	Arabic (official)
Spoken	Languages of Mauritania

Population

Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects^[1][2], the total population was 4,614,974 in 2021, compared to only 657 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 39.9%, 57.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% was 65 years or older.^[3]

	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	657	43.8	54.8	1.4
1955	744	43.6	54.7	1.6
1960	854	44.3	53.8	1.8
1965	984	45.2	52.8	2.0
1970	1 134	45.8	52.1	2.2
1975	1 312	45.8	51.9	2.3
1980	1 518	45.6	51.9	2.4
1985	1 748	45.3	52.2	2.5
1990	1 996	44.9	52.5	2.6
1995	2 292	44.0	53.4	2.7
2000	2 643	42.7	54.6	2.7
2005	3 047	41.2	56.1	2.7
2010	3 460	39.9	57.4	2.7

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (Census 24.II.2013):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	1 743 074	1 794 294	3 537 368	100
0–4	316 217	298 475	614 692	17.38
5–9	263 263	256 839	520 102	14.70
10–14	212 838	216 667	429 505	12.14
15–19	176 116	185 288	361 404	10.22
20–24	144 478	157 962	302 440	8.55
25–29	121 586	135 767	257 353	7.28
30–34	99 834	113 691	213 525	6.04
35–39	83 578	95 379	178 957	5.06
40–44	72 108	79 228	151 336	4.28
45–49	60 297	64 516	124 813	3.53
50–54	50 739	51 751	102 490	2.90
55–59	41 075	40 645	81 720	2.31
60–64	31 660	30 459	62 119	1.76
65–69	24 120	23 055	47 175	1.33
70–74	18 167	17 129	35 296	1.00
75–79	12 670	12 231	24 901	0.70
80–84	8 080	8 584	16 664	0.47
85+	6 248	6 628	12 876	0.36
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	792 318	771 981	1 564 299	44.22
15–64	881 471	954 686	1 836 157	51.91
65+	69 285	67 627	136 912	3.87

Population by Age Group (Estimates 1.VII.2016) (Data refer to national projections.):^[4]

Age Group	Total	%
Total	3 782 701	100
0–4	579 832	15.33
5–9	567 643	15.01
10–14	478 293	12.64
15–19	396 650	10.49
20–24	333 473	8.82
25–29	280 531	7.42
30–34	236 864	6.26
35–39	196 168	5.19
40–44	164 707	4.35
45–49	137 439	3.63
50–54	111 936	2.96
55–59	90 008	2.38
60–64	68 836	1.82
65–69	50 266	1.33
70–74	36 188	0.96
75–79	24 540	0.65
80+	29 328	0.78
Age group	Total	Percent
0–14	1 625 768	42.98
15–64	2 016 611	53.31
65+	140 322	3.71

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Mauritania is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[5]

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	659	30	15	15	45.2	23.0	22.2	6.12	157.1	38.74
1951	673	31	15	15	45.3	22.5	22.8	6.13	155.0	39.29
1952	689	31	15	16	45.2	22.1	23.1	6.13	152.8	39.77
1953	705	32	15	16	45.2	21.8	23.4	6.13	150.7	40.21
1954	721	33	15	17	45.3	21.4	23.9	6.16	148.4	40.78
1955	739	34	16	18	45.4	21.0	24.4	6.18	146.1	41.41
1956	757	35	16	19	45.6	20.7	24.9	6.21	143.6	41.94
1957	776	36	16	20	45.8	20.4	25.4	6.24	141.1	42.50
1958	796	37	16	21	46.0	20.0	26.0	6.28	138.4	43.16
1959	816	38	16	22	46.1	19.6	26.6	6.32	135.7	43.88
1960	838	39	16	23	46.3	19.0	27.3	6.35	133.0	44.77
1961	862	40	16	24	46.6	18.6	28.0	6.40	130.1	45.44
1962	886	41	16	25	46.6	18.3	28.3	6.43	127.3	46.05
1963	911	43	16	26	46.7	17.9	28.8	6.48	124.5	46.69
1964	938	44	16	28	46.8	17.4	29.4	6.53	121.7	47.45
1965	966	45	16	29	46.9	17.0	29.9	6.59	118.9	48.06
1966	995	47	17	30	47.0	16.6	30.3	6.64	116.1	48.73
1967	1 025	48	17	31	46.8	16.2	30.6	6.67	113.3	49.37
1968	1 056	49	17	32	46.5	15.8	30.7	6.68	110.6	50.04
1969	1 089	50	17	34	46.3	15.4	30.9	6.69	108.4	50.63
1970	1 122	52	17	35	46.0	15.1	30.8	6.69	107.0	51.04
1971	1 156	53	17	36	45.6	14.9	30.8	6.69	106.2	51.39
1972	1 191	54	18	37	45.5	14.7	30.7	6.70	105.8	51.66
1973	1 227	56	18	38	45.3	14.6	30.7	6.70	105.4	51.90
1974	1 264	57	18	39	45.1	14.4	30.7	6.70	104.9	52.18
1975	1 302	59	18	40	44.9	14.1	30.8	6.68	104.0	52.65
1976	1 342	60	19	41	44.7	13.9	30.8	6.67	102.6	52.92
1977	1 381	62	19	43	44.6	13.6	30.9	6.68	100.7	53.37
1978	1 422	63	19	44	44.3	13.3	31.0	6.67	98.5	53.86
1979	1 464	64	19	45	43.8	12.9	30.9	6.65	96.2	54.47
1980	1 507	66	19	47	43.8	12.6	31.2	6.62	94.0	55.06
1981	1 552	68	19	49	43.7	12.2	31.5	6.58	91.8	55.66
1982	1 598	69	19	50	43.3	11.8	31.5	6.53	89.6	56.28
1983	1 646	71	19	52	42.9	11.6	31.4	6.48	87.2	56.68
1984	1 696	72	19	53	42.5	11.2	31.2	6.41	84.6	57.16
1985	1 746	73	19	54	41.9	10.9	31.0	6.34	81.8	57.58
1986	1 798	74	19	55	41.4	10.6	30.7	6.25	79.1	57.99
1987	1 851	76	19	57	41.0	10.3	30.7	6.16	76.5	58.58
1988	1 906	78	19	59	40.7	10.0	30.7	6.11	74.2	59.14
1989	1 955	80	19	61	40.7	9.8	30.9	6.08	72.6	59.32
1990	2 006	82	19	62	40.6	9.6	31.0	6.06	71.0	59.77
1991	2 066	84	20	64	40.6	9.5	31.1	6.04	70.1	59.94
1992	2 148	87	20	67	40.6	9.4	31.3	6.04	69.5	60.26
1993	2 237	93	21	72	41.5	9.4	32.1	6.04	69.1	60.38
1994	2 315	95	22	73	40.9	9.4	31.6	5.92	68.9	60.34
1995	2 380	97	22	75	40.7	9.4	31.3	5.85	68.9	60.26
1996	2 429	97	23	74	39.6	9.4	30.2	5.71	69.1	60.06
1997	2 484	97	23	74	39.0	9.2	29.8	5.66	68.9	60.45
1998	2 551	98	23	75	38.4	9.1	29.4	5.57	68.8	60.61
1999	2 621	100	24	77	38.2	9.0	29.3	5.54	68.7	60.82
2000	2 695	102	24	78	37.8	8.9	28.9	5.46	68.5	61.03
2001	2 762	104	24	80	37.5	8.8	28.7	5.38	68.2	61.19
2002	2 822	105	25	80	37.0	8.7	28.3	5.29	68.0	61.27
2003	2 883	106	25	81	36.7	8.6	28.1	5.23	67.7	61.35
2004	2 947	109	25	84	36.8	8.5	28.2	5.19	67.0	61.59
2005	3 012	112	26	86	36.9	8.5	28.4	5.19	66.3	61.66
2006	3 081	115	26	89	37.1	8.4	28.7	5.19	65.2	61.89
2007	3 154	117	26	91	37.1	8.3	28.8	5.15	64.1	62.23
2008	3 233	121	27	94	37.2	8.2	29.0	5.15	62.7	62.40
2009	3 323	123	27	95	36.9	8.2	28.7	5.08	61.3	62.80
2010	3 419	126	28	97	36.8	8.3	28.4	5.04	59.8	63.11
2011	3 524	129	30	99	36.7	8.5	28.3	5.03	58.5	63.35
2012	3 636	132	31	101	36.4	8.6	27.8	4.99	57.2	63.58
2013	3 743	134	32	102	35.8	8.7	27.2	4.94	55.8	63.91
2014	3 843	137	32	105	35.5	8.3	27.2	4.89	54.4	64.16
2015	3 946	139	32	107	35.2	8.0	27.2	4.81	53.0	64.49
2016	4 052	141	31	110	34.8	7.7	27.1	4.74	51.7	64.77
2017	4 160	143	31	112	34.4	7.4	27.0	4.66	50.3	65.08
2018	4 271	146	31	115	34.2	7.2	26.9	4.61	49.1	65.31
2019	4 384	148	31	117	33.7	7.0	26.7	4.52	47.8	65.69
2020	4 499	150	34	117	33.4	7.5	26.0	4.46	46.5	64.53
2021	4 615	153	34	119	33.2	7.4	25.8	4.40	45.3	64.36

Fertility and Births

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

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
2000–2001	32.1	4.7 (4.3)	31.9	4.3 (3.9)	32.1	5.0 (4.7)
2003–2004		4.6		4.1		5.1
2019–2021	35.5	5.2 (4.5)	30.3	4.1 (3.6)	40.2	6.4 (5.5)

Fertility data as of 2010 (DHS Program):^[7]

Zone	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49
Nouakchott	4.3	8.0	5.7
Sud-Est	5.0	10.4	5.2
Fleuve	5.1	8.5	6.0
Nord	4.6	7.1	6.5
Centre	4.0	6.7	6.1

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years[8]
1950–1955	41.72
1955–1960	45.19
1960–1965	47.93
1965–1970	50.28
1970–1975	52.73
1975–1980	55.76
1980–1985	57.77
1985–1990	58.89
1990–1995	59.84
1995–2000	60.27
2000–2005	61.32
2005–2010	62.64
2010–2015	63.43

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.^[9]

• One birth every 3 minutes
• One death every 16 minutes
• One net migrant every 120 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 4 minutes

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook^[10] unless otherwise indicated.

Population

4,161,925 (2022 est.)

3,840,429 (July 2018 est.)

3,381,634 (June 2011 est.)

Religions

Muslim (official) 100%

Age structure

Population pyramid of Mauritania in 2020

0-14 years: 37.56% (male 755,788/female 748,671)

15-24 years: 19.71% (male 387,140/female 402,462)

25-54 years: 33.91% (male 630,693/female 727,518)

55-64 years: 4.9% (male 88,888/female 107,201)

65 years and over: 3.92% (2020 est.) (male 66,407/female 90,707)

0-14 years: 38.24% (male 737,570 /female 730,969)

15-24 years: 19.78% (male 372,070 /female 387,375)

25-54 years: 33.44% (male 595,472 /female 688,620)

55-64 years: 4.74% (male 82,197 /female 99,734)

65 years and over: 3.81% (male 62,072 /female 84,350) (2018 est.)

Median age

total: 21 years. Country comparison to the world: 187th

male: 20.1 years

female: 22 years (2020 est.)

total: 20.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 186th

male: 19.7 years

female: 21.6 years (2018 est.)

total: 19.3 years

male: 18.5 years

female: 20.2 years (2010 est.)

Birth rate

28.06 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 37th

29.9 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th

Death rate

7.43 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 109th

7.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 97th

Total fertility rate

3.46 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 39th

3.53 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th

3.79 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 39th

Population growth rate

1.99% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st

2.14% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st

2.349% (2011 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

21.4 years (2019-2021)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

17.8% (2015)

Net migration rate

-0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 134th

-0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 132nd

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 76.5 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 71 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 5.5 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 18.3 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

Main article: List of cities in Mauritania

urban population: 56.9% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 3.84% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 53.7% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 4.28% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 65.22 years. Country comparison to the world: 204th

male: 62.77 years

female: 67.75 years (2022 est.)

total population: 63.8 years (2018 est.)

male: 61.4 years (2018 est.)

female: 66.2 years (2018 est.)

• total population: 60.75 years
• male: 58.57 years
• female: 62.99 years (2010 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mauritania is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Ethnic groups

Fair Moors (bidhanes) 53% or 2.4 million people, dark Moors (Haratins) 30%, 17% sub-Saharan Mauritanians (non-Arabic speaking, largely resident in or originating from the Senegal River Valley, including Helpulaar, Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, and Bambara ethnic groups)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

9,500 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

Nationality

noun: Mauritanian(s) adjective: Mauritanian

Languages

Arabic (official and national), French (widely used in media and among educated classes), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, Serer.^{[citation needed]}

Education expenditures

1.9% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 179th

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 53.5%

male: 63.7%

female: 43.4% (2017)

total population: 52.1% (2015 est.)

male: 62.6% (2015 est.)

female: 41.6% (2015 est.)

total population: 51.2%

male: 59.5%

female: 43.4% (2000 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 9 years

male: 9 years

female: 10 years (2019)

total: 8 years (2017)

male: 8 years (2017)

female: 8 years (2017)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 21.1%

male: 18.8%

female: 24.9% (2017 est.)

References

1. "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
2. "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
3. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". population.un.org. Archived from the original on May 6, 2011.
4. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
5. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2022). "World Population Prospects 2022 Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XLS (91MB)). United Nations Population Division. 27 (Online ed.). New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. rows 5693:5764, cols M,X,AE,S,AH,S,AA,AV,AI. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09.
6. "Mauritania - Enquête Démographique et de Santé 2000-2001". Archived from the original on 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
7. "Demographics" (PDF). dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR256/FR256.pdf. 201. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
8. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
9. "Mauritania Population 2022", World Population Review
10.  This article incorporates public domain material from "Mauritania". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2022. (Archived 2018 edition.)

External links

• Maures
• Mauritania - Country Profile
• Decomentry film A History of the Haratin