South Sudan Population

Quick facts about the population of South Sudan

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

South Sudan population 2019

During 2019 South Sudan population is projected to increase by 580,371 people and reach 14,808,638 in the beginning of 2020. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 360,544. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be increased by 219,827 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who move into South Sudan (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants) will prevail over the number of people who leave the country to settle permanently in another country (emigrants).

Population change rates in 2019

According to our estimations, daily change rates of South Sudan population in 2019 will be the following:

• 1,454 live births average per day (60.57 in an hour)
• 466 deaths average per day (19.41 in an hour)
• 602 immigrants average per day (25.09 in an hour)

Demographics of South Sudan 2018

As of 1 January 2019, the population of South Sudan was estimated to be 14,228,267 people. This is an increase of 4.08 % (557,625 people) compared to population of 13,670,642 the year before. In 2018 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 346,414. Due to external migration, the population increased by 211,211. The sex ratio of the total population was 1.020 (1,020 males per 1 000 females) which is higher than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1 016 males to 1 000 females as of 2018.

Below are the key figures for South Sudan population in 2018:

• 509,778 live births
• 163,364 deaths
• Natural increase: 346,414 people
• Net migration: 211,211 people
• 7,184,570 males as of 31 December 2018
• 7,043,697 females as of 31 December 2018

South Sudan population density

South Sudan population density is 23.0 people per square kilometer (59.5/mi²) as of November 2019. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of South Sudan divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of South Sudan. The total area of South Sudan is 619,745 km² (239,285 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in South Sudan

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Wednesday, November 13 2019).

South Sudan age structure

As of the beginning of 2019 according to our estimates South Sudan had the following population age distribution:

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 6,537,320 young people under 15 years old ( 3,337,525 males / 3,199,795 females)
• 7,323,004 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 3,681,422 males / 3,641,583 females)
• 367,943 persons above 64 years old ( 170,170 males / 197,773 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.

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 South Sudan 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 "South Sudan 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 South Sudan is 94.3 %.

As we can see the dependent part of population is comparable to the working part. It means that each working person in South Sudan must provide goods for himself and cover expenditure on one child or aged person additionally. The value of 94.3 % shows that the pressure on productive population in South Sudan 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 South Sudan is 89.3 %.

Aged dependency ratio

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

Aged dependency ratio in South Sudan is 5 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "South Sudan 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 South Sudan is 55.1 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 54.1 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 56 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 2,460,493 persons or 31.99% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in South Sudan are able to read and write. Accordingly about 5,230,455 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 38.62% (1,487,639 persons). 2,363,953 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 25.34% (972,854 persons). 2,866,502 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 46.89% and 41.74% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 44.33%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

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