North Macedonia: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 1.25 million people, so the population is now 1.4 times as large.

The UN projects 16,000 births and 20,300 deaths in 2026, 4,290 more deaths than births.

Deaths have outnumbered births every year since 2020.

More people leave than move in: net migration in 2026 is projected at minus 5,730.

The median age is 41.4, which is 10.3 years above the world’s 31.1.

16% of the people are under 15 and 19% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

People aged 65 and over have outnumbered children under 15 since 2023.

Women have 1.5 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 5.1 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 77.8 years, above the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 50.6.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 1.51 million people, 16% fewer than now, with a median age of 47.8.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 77.4 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 17.7 more years for women and 15.0 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 28.9 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 46.2.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 863,000, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 263,000 to 2.74 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, 151,000 international migrants lived here, 8.3% of the population.

In mid-2024, 535,000 people from here lived in other countries.