Cameroon: People & Society#
| Population | 24,360,803 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 2016 est.) |
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| Nationality | noun: Cameroonian(s) adjective: Cameroonian |
| Ethnic groups | Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1% |
| Languages | 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official) |
| Religions | Catholic 38.4%, Protestant 26.3%, other Christian 4.5%, Muslim 20.9%, animist 5.6%, other 1%, non-believer 3.2% (2005 est.) |
| Demographic profile | Cameroon has a large youth population, with more than 60% of the populace under the age of 25. Fertility is falling but remains at a high level, especially among poor, rural, and uneducated women, in part because of inadequate access to contraception. Life expectancy remains low at about 55 years due to the prevalence of HIV and AIDs and an elevated maternal mortality rate, which has remained high since 1990. Cameroon, particularly the northern region, is vulnerable to food insecurity largely because of government mismanagement, corruption, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, and natural disasters. Despite economic growth in some regions, poverty is on the rise, and is most prevalent in rural areas, which are especially affected by a shortage of jobs, declining incomes, poor school and health care infrastructure, and a lack of clean water and sanitation. Underinvestment in social safety nets and ineffective public financial management also contribute to Cameroon’s high rate of poverty. International migration has been driven by unemployment (including fewer government jobs), poverty, the search for educational opportunities, and corruption. The US and Europe are preferred destinations, but, with tighter immigration restrictions in these countries, young Cameroonians are increasingly turning to neighboring states, such as Gabon and Nigeria, South Africa, other parts of Africa, and the Near and Far East. Cameroon’s limited resources make it dependent on UN support to host more than 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers. These refugees and asylum seekers are primarily from the Central African Republic and more recently Nigeria. |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 42.6% (male 5,228,047/female 5,149,228) 15-24 years: 19.55% (male 2,393,598/female 2,368,557) 25-54 years: 30.71% (male 3,762,054/female 3,718,266) 55-64 years: 3.97% (male 471,306/female 495,462) 65 years and over: 3.18% (male 360,386/female 413,899) (2016 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 84.3% youth dependency ratio: 78.4% elderly dependency ratio: 5.9% potential support ratio: 16.9% (2015 est.) |
| Median age | total: 18.5 years male: 18.4 years female: 18.6 years (2016 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 2.58% (2016 est.) |
| Birth rate | 35.8 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Death rate | 9.8 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Urbanization | urban population: 54.4% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 3.6% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
| Major urban areas - population | YAOUNDE (capital) 3.066 million; Douala 2.943 million (2015) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | 19.7 note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2011 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 596 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 52.2 deaths/1,000 live births male: 55.8 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 58.5 years male: 57.1 years female: 59.9 years (2016 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 4.7 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 23.4% (2011) |
| Health expenditures | 4.1% of GDP (2014) |
| Physicians density | 0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2009) |
| Hospital bed density | 1.3 beds/1,000 population (2010) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 94.8% of population rural: 52.7% of population total: 75.6% of population unimproved: urban: 5.2% of population rural: 47.3% of population total: 24.4% of population (2015 est.) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 61.8% of population rural: 26.8% of population total: 45.8% of population unimproved: urban: 38.2% of population rural: 73.2% of population total: 54.2% of population (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 4.46% (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 619,200 (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 33,100 (2015 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis animal contact disease: rabies (2016) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 9.6% (2014) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 14.8% (2014) |
| Education expenditures | 3% of GDP (2013) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 75% male: 81.2% female: 68.9% (2015 est.) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 10 years male: 11 years female: 10 years (2011) |
| Child labor - children ages 5-14 | total number: 1,396,281 percentage: 31% (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 6.4% male: 5.3% female: 7.5% (2010 est.) |