Demographics of São Tomé and Príncipe

Demographic features of the population of São Tomé and Príncipe include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

Demographics of São Tomé and Príncipe
Population pyramid of Sao Tome and Principe in 2020
Population	217,164 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	1.48% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	28.19 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	6.2 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Net migration rate	-7.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	39.77%
65 and over	2.87%
Nationality
Nationality	Sao Tomean

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

Of São Tomé and Príncipe's total population of some 201,800,^[1] about 193,380 live on São Tomé and 8,420 on Príncipe. All are descended from various ethnic groups that have migrated to the islands since 1485. 70% of the people on São Tomé and Príncipe are black and 30% of the people are mixed race, mostly black and white. Six groups are identifiable:

• Luso-Africans, or mixed-heritage, descendants of Portuguese colonists, Marranos^[2] and African slaves brought to the islands during the early years of settlement from Benin, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola (these people also are known as filhos da terra or "children of the land");
• Angolares, reputedly descendants of Angolan slaves who survived a 1540 shipwreck and now earn their livelihood fishing;
• Forros, descendants of freed slaves when slavery was abolished;
• Serviçais, contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde, living temporarily on the islands;
• Tongas, children of serviçais born on the islands; and
• Europeans, primarily Portuguese.
• Asians, mostly Chinese minority, including Macanese people of mixed Portuguese and Chinese blood from Macau.

Although a small country, São Tomé and Príncipe has four national languages: Portuguese (the official language, spoken by 95% of the population), and the Portuguese-based creoles Forro (85%), Angolar (3%) and Principense (0.1%). French is also learned in schools, as the country is a member of Francophonie.

In the 1970s, there were two significant population movements—the exodus of most of the 4,000 Portuguese residents and the influx of several hundred São Toméan refugees from Angola. The islanders have been absorbed largely into a common Luso-African culture. Almost all belong to the Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, or Seventh-day Adventist churches, which in turn retain close ties with churches in Portugal. There is a small but growing Muslim population.

Population

São Tomé and Príncipe's population between 1960 and 2017.

According to the 2022 revision of the world factbook the total population was 217,164 in 2022, compared to only 60,000 in 1950.^[3] The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was 39.8%, 57.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.9% was 65 years or older.^[3]

	Total population[3]	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	60,000	32.9	63.1	4.0
1955	59,000	32.9	63.1	4.0
1960	64,000	32.9	63.2	4.0
1965	65,000	41.1	56.3	2.6
1970	74,000	46.7	48.4	4.9
1975	82,000	47.0	49.1	3.9
1980	95,000	46.6	48.6	4.8
1985	104,000	46.6	48.8	4.7
1990	116,000	46.6	49.0	4.4
1995	128,000	44.8	50.8	4.4
2000	141,000	42.6	53.1	4.3
2005	153,000	41.6	54.0	4.4
2010	165,000	40.3	55.8	3.9
2020	211,122	39.8	57.4	2.9

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2017): ^[4]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	97 988	99 712	197 700	100
0–4	12 031	12 102	24 133	12.21
5–9	13 833	13 667	27 500	13.91
10–14	12 677	12 714	25 390	12.84
15–19	10 673	10 672	21 345	10.80
20–24	9 278	9 062	18 341	9.28
25–29	7 895	7 946	15 841	8.01
30–34	7 276	7 389	14 665	7.42
35–39	6 105	6 252	12 358	6.25
40–44	4 762	4 784	9 546	4.83
45–49	3 831	3 822	7 654	3.87
50–54	2 880	3 153	6 033	3.05
55–59	2 384	2 620	5 004	2.53
60–64	1 573	1 858	3 431	1.74
65-69	1 076	1 173	2 249	1.14
70-74	665	835	1 500	0.76
75-79	535	777	1 313	0.66
80+	514	886	1 400	0.71
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	38 541	38 483	77 024	38.96
15–64	56 657	57 558	114 215	57.77
65+	2 790	3 671	6 461	3.27

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in São Tomé & Príncipe not available for recent years. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[5]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.7	21.0	26.7	6.20	124
1955-1960	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.7	18.5	29.2	6.20	112
1960-1965	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.0	16.8	30.1	6.30	99
1965-1970	3 000	1 000	2 000	42.7	13.1	29.6	6.40	88
1970-1975	3 000	1 000	2 000	40.7	13.2	27.6	6.52	80
1975-1980	4 000	1 000	3 000	41.1	11.0	30.1	6.50	70
1980-1985	4 000	1 000	3 000	40.4	11.5	28.9	6.24	66
1985-1990	4 000	1 000	3 000	38.8	10.7	28.1	5.66	63
1990-1995	5 000	1 000	3 000	37.0	9.8	27.1	5.16	61
1995-2000	5 000	1 000	4 000	35.9	9.2	26.7	4.80	58
2000-2005	5 000	1 000	4 000	34.8	8.8	26.0	4.34	55
2005-2010	5 000	1 000	4 000	32.4	8.2	24.2	3.85	52
* 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)

Births and deaths ^[6]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2012		5 173	1 287	3 886	27.6	6.9	20.7
2015		5 022	1 226	3 796
2017		5 190	1 202	3 988	26.3	6.1	20.2

Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)

^[7]

Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
2008-2009	34,5	4,9 (3,3)	32,4	4,4 (3,0)	36,7	5,5 (3,7)

Fertility data as of 2008-2009 (DHS Program):^[8]

Region	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Centro	4.6	8.2	5.5
Sul	5.4	8.3	6.2
Norte	5.7	8.8	6.7
Príncipe	5.0	11.6	6.1

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years[9]
1950–1955	46.40
1955–1960	48.89
1960–1965	51.86
1965–1970	54.42
1970–1975	57.36
1975–1980	60.21
1980–1985	60.59
1985–1990	61.40
1990–1995	62.22
1995–2000	63.01
2000–2005	63.80
2005–2010	65.47
2010–2015	66.14

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.^[10]

• One birth every 76 minutes
• One death every 480 minutes
• One net migrant every 360 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 120 minutes

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook^[11] unless otherwise indicated.

Population

217,164 (2022 est.)

204,454 (July 2018 est.)

Religions

Catholic 55.7%, Adventist 4.1%, Assembly of God 3.4%, New Apostolic 2.9%, Mana 2.3%, Universal Kingdom of God 2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.2%, other 6.2%, none 21.2%, unspecified 1% (2012 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Sao Tome and Principe in 2020

0-14 years: 39.77% (male 42,690/female 41,277)

15-24 years: 21.59% (male 23,088/female 22,487)

25-54 years: 31.61% (male 32,900/female 33,834)

55-64 years: 4.17% (male 4,095/female 4,700)

65 years and over: 2.87% (2020 est.) (male 2,631/female 3,420)

0-14 years: 41.2% (male 42,825 /female 41,403)

15-24 years: 21.01% (male 21,767 /female 21,188)

25-54 years: 31.03% (male 31,218 /female 32,229)

55-64 years: 3.93% (male 3,708 /female 4,332)

65 years and over: 2.83% (male 2,545 /female 3,239) (2018 est.)

Birth rate

28.19 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th

31.5 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 32nd

Death rate

6.2 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 149th

6.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 138th

Total fertility rate

3.56 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 36th

4.11 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 31st

Population growth rate

1.48% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 65th

1.66% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 62nd

Median age

total: 19.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 204th

male: 18.9 years

female: 19.7 years (2020 est.)

total: 18.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 207th

male: 18.3 years

female: 19.1 years (2018 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.4 years (2008/09 est.)

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

Contraceptive prevalence rate

49.7% (2019)

40.6% (2014)

Net migration rate

-7.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 214th

-8.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 207th

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 86.7 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 81.1 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 5.6 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 17.8 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 75.8% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 2.96% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 72.8% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 3.33% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.06 years. Country comparison to the world: 194th

male: 65.44 years

female: 68.72 years (2022 est.)

total population: 65.7 years

male: 64.3 years

female: 67.1 years (2018 est.)

total population: 65.25 years

male: 63.84 years

female: 66.7 years (2000 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high (2020)

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

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

Sex ratio

at birth:

male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15–64 years:

0.93 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.84 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Nationality

noun: São Toméan(s)
adjective: São Toméan

Ethnic groups

Mestiços, angolares (descendants of Angolan slaves), forros (descendants of freed slaves), serviçais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde), tongas (children of serviçais born on the islands) and Europeans (primarily Portuguese).

Languages

Main article: Languages of São Tomé and Príncipe

Portuguese 98.4% (official)

Forro 36.2%

Cabo Verdian 8.5%

French 6.8%

Angolar 6.6%

English 4.9%

Lunguie 1%

Other (including sign language) 2.4% ^[12]

Education expenditures

5.9% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 35th

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Year	Total population	Male	Female
1991 est.	73%	85%	62%
2015 est.	74.9%	81.8%	68.4%
2018	92.8%	96.2%	89.5%

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 12 years (2015)

male: 12 years (2015)

female: 13 years (2015)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 20.8% (2012 est.)

References

• São Tomé and Príncipe portal

1. official estimate as at 13 May 2018 by Instituto Nacional de Estatistica.
2. Feingold, Reuven. "Judeus ibéricos deportados a São Tomé entre 1492-1497". História Judaica. reuvenfaingold.com. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
3. "Sao Tome and Principe". 19 April 2022.
4. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
5. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
6. ". Live births, deaths, and infant deaths, latest available year (2002 - 2016)" (PDF). Unstats.un.org. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
7. "The DHS Program - Quality information to plan, monitor and improve population, health, and nutrition programs". Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
8. "Inquérito Demográfico e Sanitário 2008-2009" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
9. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
10. "Sao Tome and Principe Population 2022", World Population Review
11. "The World FactBook - Sao Tome and Principe", The World Factbook, 2022 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
12. "Africa :: SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE". CIA The World Factbook. 19 April 2022.