Madagascar Population

Quick facts about the population of Madagascar

Current population (as of Sunday, April 11, 2021)

28,308,042

Population rank

51 (0.36% of world population)

Total area

587,040 km2 (226,657 mi2)

Population density

48.2 per km2 (124.9 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

0.99 (14,112,455 men to 14,196,069 women)

Median age

18.7 years

Life expectancy

63.6 years (61.6 - men, 65.7 - women)

Literacy

64.7 %

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

Madagascar population 2021

During 2021 Madagascar population is projected to increase by 782,688 people and reach 28,876,295 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 783,812. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 1,124 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Madagascar 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 Madagascar population in 2021 will be the following:

• 2,681 live births average per day (111.70 in an hour)
• 533 deaths average per day (22.22 in an hour)
• -3 emigrants average per day (-0.13 in an hour)

The population of Madagascar will be increasing by 2,144 persons daily in 2021.

Demographics of Madagascar 2020

As of 1 January 2021, the population of Madagascar was estimated to be 28,093,607 people. This is an increase of 2.79 % (761,473 people) compared to population of 27,332,134 the year before. In 2020 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 762,567. Due to external migration, the population declined by 1,093. The sex ratio of the total population was 0.994 (994 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 Madagascar population in 2020:

• 951,978 live births
• 189,412 deaths
• Natural increase: 762,567 people
• Net migration: -1,093 people
• 13,976,217 males as of 31 December 2020
• 14,117,390 females as of 31 December 2020

Madagascar population density

Madagascar population density is 47.9 people per square kilometer (123.9/mi²) as of April 2021. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Madagascar divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Madagascar. The total area of Madagascar is 587,040 km² (226,657 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Madagascar

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	24,203,376	85.5 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	1,981,563	7.0 %
Folk or traditional religions	1,273,862	4.5 %
Islam	849,241	3.0 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Sunday, April 11 2021).

Madagascar age structure

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

43.1

53.8

3

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

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 12,115,649 young people under 15 years old ( 6,102,212 males / 6,013,437 females)
• 15,122,227 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 7,514,197 males / 7,608,311 females)
• 855,731 persons above 64 years old ( 378,421 males / 477,029 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 Madagascar 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 "Madagascar 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 Madagascar is 85.8 %.

As we can see the dependent part of population is comparable to the working part. It means that each working person in Madagascar must provide goods for himself and cover expenditure on one child or aged person additionally. The value of 85.8 % shows that the pressure on productive population in Madagascar is very 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 Madagascar is 80.1 %.

Aged dependency ratio

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

Aged dependency ratio in Madagascar is 5.7 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Madagascar 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 Madagascar is 63.6 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 61.6 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 65.7 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 10,330,246 persons or 64.65% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Madagascar are able to read and write. Accordingly about 5,647,712 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 66.74% (5,267,691 persons). 2,624,927 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 62.61% (5,062,555 persons). 3,022,785 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 65.36% and 64.78% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 65.07%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

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