Cape Verde Population

Quick facts about the population of Cape Verde

Current population (as of Monday, January 25, 2021)

560,015

Population rank

173 (0.01% of world population)

Total area

4,033 km2 (1,557 mi2)

Population density

138.9 per km2 (359.6 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

0.98 (277,632 men to 282,399 women)

Median age

23.8 years

Life expectancy

70.7 years (68.5 - men, 73.0 - women)

Literacy

87.6 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Cape Verde population 2021

During 2021 Cape Verde population is projected to increase by 6,676 people and reach 566,252 in the beginning of 2022. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 9,121. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 2,445 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Cape Verde to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2021

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Cape Verde population in 2021 will be the following:

• 33 live births average per day (1.39 in an hour)
• 8 deaths average per day (0.35 in an hour)
• -7 emigrants average per day (-0.28 in an hour)

The population of Cape Verde will be increasing by 18 persons daily in 2021.

Demographics of Cape Verde 2020

As of 1 January 2021, the population of Cape Verde was estimated to be 559,576 people. This is an increase of 1.19 % (6,597 people) compared to population of 552,979 the year before. In 2020 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 9,014. Due to external migration, the population declined by 2,417. The sex ratio of the total population was 0.983 (983 males per 1,000 females) which is lower than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2020.

Below are the key figures for Cape Verde population in 2020:

• 12,060 live births
• 3,047 deaths
• Natural increase: 9,014 people
• Net migration: -2,417 people
• 276,962 males as of 31 December 2020
• 282,614 females as of 31 December 2020

Cape Verde population density

Cape Verde population density is 138.7 people per square kilometer (359.4/mi²) as of January 2021. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Cape Verde divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Cape Verde. The total area of Cape Verde is 4,033 km² (1,557 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Cape Verde

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	498,973	89.1 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	50,961	9.1 %
Hinduism	8,400	1.5 %
Buddhism	1,120	0.2 %
Islam	560	0.1 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Monday, January 25 2021).

Cape Verde age structure

As of the beginning of 2021 according to our estimates Cape Verde had the following population age distribution:

32.6

61.9

5.5

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 182,439 young people under 15 years old ( 91,670 males / 90,769 females)
• 346,540 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 167,727 males / 178,807 females)
• 30,603 persons above 64 years old ( 11,544 males / 19,054 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Cape Verde population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cape Verde age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Cape Verde is 61.5 %.

What does this value mean? It shows that the dependent part of population is more than a half of the working part. It means that the working population (labor force) in Cape Verde must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons (this population is more than a half of working population). The value of more than 50% shows that the pressure on productive population in Cape Verde is relatively high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Cape Verde is 52.6 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Cape Verde is 8.8 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cape Verde age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Cape Verde is 70.7 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 68.5 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 73 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 329,502 persons or 87.37% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Cape Verde are able to read and write. Accordingly about 47,630 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 92.1% (165,101 persons). 14,170 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 83.09% (164,401 persons). 33,460 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 98.12% and 98.56% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 98.34%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Cape Verde population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .