Gabon: People & Society#
| Population | 1,738,541 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: Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese |
| Ethnic groups | Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba); other Africans and Europeans, 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality |
| Languages | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |
| Religions | Catholic 41.9%, Protestant 13.7%, other Christian 32.4%, Muslim 6.4%, animist 0.3%, other 0.3%, none/no answer 5% (2012 est.) |
| Demographic profile | Gabon’s oil revenues have given it one of the highest per capita income levels in sub-Saharan Africa, but the wealth is not evenly distributed and poverty is widespread. Unemployment is especially prevalent among the large youth population; more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. With a fertility rate still averaging more than 4 children per woman, the youth population will continue to grow and further strain the mismatch between Gabon’s supply of jobs and the skills of its labor force. Gabon has been a magnet to migrants from neighboring countries since the 1960s because of the discovery of oil, as well as the country’s political stability and timber, mineral, and natural gas resources. Nonetheless, income inequality and high unemployment have created slums in Libreville full of migrant workers from Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, and elsewhere in West Africa. In 2011, Gabon declared an end to refugee status for 9,500 remaining Congolese nationals to whom it had granted asylum during the Republic of the Congo’s civil war between 1997 and 2003. About 5,400 of these refugees received permits to reside in Gabon. |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 41.98% (male 366,875/female 363,031) 15-24 years: 20.37% (male 177,501/female 176,653) 25-54 years: 29.59% (male 257,841/female 256,604) 55-64 years: 4.28% (male 35,895/female 38,533) 65 years and over: 3.77% (male 28,137/female 37,471) (2016 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 73.1% youth dependency ratio: 64.3% elderly dependency ratio: 8.8% potential support ratio: 11.3% (2015 est.) |
| Median age | total: 18.6 years male: 18.4 years female: 18.8 years (2016 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.92% (2016 est.) |
| Birth rate | 34.3 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Death rate | 13.1 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Urbanization | urban population: 87.2% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 2.7% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
| Major urban areas - population | LIBREVILLE (capital) 707,000 (2015) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | 20.3 note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2012 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 291 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 45.1 deaths/1,000 live births male: 52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 52.1 years male: 51.6 years female: 52.5 years (2016 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 4.43 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 31.1% (2012) |
| Health expenditures | 3.4% of GDP (2014) |
| Hospital bed density | 6.3 beds/1,000 population (2010) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 97.2% of population rural: 66.7% of population total: 93.2% of population unimproved: urban: 2.8% of population rural: 33.3% of population total: 6.8% of population (2015 est.) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 43.4% of population rural: 31.5% of population total: 41.9% of population unimproved: urban: 56.6% of population rural: 68.5% of population total: 58.1% of population (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 3.76% (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 46,700 (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 1,300 (2015 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis animal contact disease: rabies (2016) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 15.8% (2014) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 6.5% (2012) |
| Education expenditures | 2.7% of GDP (2014) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83.2% male: 85.3% female: 81% (2015 est.) |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 35.7% male: 30.6% female: 41.9% (2010 est.) |