Eswatini: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 272,000 people, so the population is now 4.7 times as large.

The UN projects 29,100 births and 9,890 deaths in 2026, 19,200 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2077.

More people leave than move in: net migration in 2026 is projected at minus 5,490.

The median age is 22.7, which is 8.4 years below the world’s 31.1.

33% of the people are under 15 and 4.4% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2095.

Women have 2.6 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 6.7 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 64.5 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 43.4.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 1.51 million people, 19% more than now, with a median age of 29.4.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 64.1 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 15.1 more years for women and 13.1 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 7.0 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 10.7.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 1.34 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 659,000 to 2.65 million.

Life expectancy at birth is a period measure. It sums up the death rates of one year and is not a forecast of how long the babies born that year will live.

In mid-2024, 33,300 international migrants lived here, 2.7% of the population.

In mid-2024, 11,600 people from here lived in other countries.