Western Sahara: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 13,000 people, so the population is now 47.1 times as large.

The UN projects 9,010 births and 4,030 deaths in 2026, 4,980 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2064.

More people move in than leave: net migration in 2026 is projected at plus 4,690.

The median age is 32.8, which is 1.7 years above the world’s 31.1.

23% of the people are under 15 and 6.9% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2059.

Women have 2.1 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 6.0 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 72.0 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 34.9.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 777,000 people, 27% more than now, with a median age of 36.6.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 71.4 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 15.3 more years for women and 13.5 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 9.8 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 23.2.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 831,000, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 69,800 to 15.1 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, 5,630 international migrants lived here, 1.0% of the population.

In mid-2024, 202,000 people from here lived in other countries.