Syria: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 3.61 million people, so the population is now 7.3 times as large.

The UN projects 625,000 births and 126,000 deaths in 2026, 499,000 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2087.

More people move in than leave: net migration in 2026 is projected at plus 306,000.

The median age is 23.8, which is 7.3 years below the world’s 31.1.

28% of the people are under 15 and 4.9% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2073.

Women have 2.6 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 7.6 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 73.4 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 42.5.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 37.8 million people, 43% more than now, with a median age of 32.1.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 72.1 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 16.0 more years for women and 13.7 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 7.3 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 13.4.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 43.7 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 12.4 million to 160 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, 896,000 international migrants lived here, 3.6% of the population.

In mid-2024, 8.93 million people from here lived in other countries.