Demographics of Botswana

Demographics of Botswana
Population pyramid of Botswana in 2020
Population	2,359,609 (2022)
Growth rate	1.4% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	20.28 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	9.05 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	65.64 years
• male	63.6 years
• female	67.74 years
Fertility rate	2.39 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	25.18 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	2.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	30.54%
65 and over	5.56%
Sex ratio
Total	0.92 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.02 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.6 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Motswana
Major ethnic	Tswana (79%)
Minor ethnic	Kalanga (11%)

Demographic features of the population of Botswana include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.

Demographics of Botswana, Data of FAO, year 2008; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Botswana, like many nations in southern Africa, suffers from a high HIV infection rate, estimated among adults ages 15 to 49 to be 20.7%.

Population

A traditional house in Botswana

Census results

Botswana Population and Housing Census

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1904	120,776	—
1911	124,350	+0.42%
1921	152,983	+2.09%
1936	265,756	+3.75%
1946	296,310	+1.09%
1956	309,175	+0.43%
1964	549,510	+7.45%
1971	596,994	+1.19%
1981	941,027	+4.66%
1991	1,326,796	+3.50%
2001	1,680,863	+2.39%
2011	2,024,904	+1.88%
2022	2,359,609	+1.40%

Bechuanaland Protectorate

The seven censuses of Botswana before its independence happened irregularly. Due to the Anglo-Boer War, the first census of Bechuanaland Protectorate, originally set to occur in 1901, took place on 17 April 1904. The 1931 census was postponed to 1936 because of the Great Depression. The early censuses were unreliable and took several years to tabulate; the results were outdated by the time they were calculated.

Post-independence

There have been six censuses after the independence of Botswana, each occurring every ten years in the year ending in 1 (i.e. 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2022). The 1971 census was the first census in Botswana to use de facto enumeration; this method counts people based on how many people spent census night at a specific location. Previously, the citizens were counted based on their usual place of residence. The 2001 census was the first census in Botswana to comply with the SADC 2000 Census Project, the guidelines of which unify the demographic statistics in southern Africa. The 2011 Census was the fifth census after independence the 2011 Botswana Population and Housing Census, it occurred in August 2011. The most recent sixth and most recent census is the 2022 Population and Housing Census which was carried out in April 2022.

UN estimates

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 2,588,423 in 2021, compared to only 413,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was about 33.4%, 62.1% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4.5% of the population were 65 years or older.

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	413 000	40.9	54.8	4.4
1955	463 000	41.7	53.9	4.3
1960	503 000	43.6	52.1	4.3
1965	560 000	46.8	49.3	4.0
1970	628 000	47.8	48.3	3.9
1975	741 000	48.0	48.5	3.5
1980	898 000	48.5	48.1	3.4
1985	1 070 000	47.9	49.0	3.1
1990	1 287 000	45.0	51.7	3.3
1995	1 469 000	42.2	54.6	3.3
2000	1 643 000	38.7	58.1	3.3
2005	1 799 000	36.5	60.3	3.1
2010	1 987 000	35.0	61.7	3.3
2015	2 121 000	34.9	61.2	3.8
2020	2 352 000	33.4	62.1	4.5

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 9.VIII.2011):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	988 957	1 035 947	2 024 904	100
0–4	119 999	117 315	237 314	11.72
5–9	108 544	106 618	215 162	10.63
10–14	104 419	102 875	207 294	10.24
15–19	104 818	105 928	210 746	10.41
20–24	97 249	103 101	200 350	9.89
25–29	101 194	106 658	207 852	10.26
30–34	84 515	86 027	170 542	8.42
35–39	68 435	66 784	135 219	6.68
40–44	48 767	50 530	99 297	4.90
45–49	37 881	44 380	82 261	4.06
50–54	29 742	36 620	66 362	3.28
55–59	24 368	29 681	54 049	2.67
60–64	17 344	20 240	37 584	1.86
65–69	12 243	15 504	27 747	1.37
70–74	9 464	12 797	22 261	1.10
75–79	6 968	10 924	17 892	0.88
80–84	4 875	8 344	13 219	0.65
85–89	2 825	5 422	8 247	0.41
90–94	1 377	2 544	3 921	0.19
95+	3 930	3 655	7 585	0.37
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	332 962	326 808	659 770	32.58
15–64	614 313	649 949	1 264 262	62.44
65+	41 682	59 190	100 872	4.98

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Based on the results of the 2011 Population Census.):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	1 171 507	1 227 171	2 398 679	100
0–4	142 150	138 970	281 120	11.72
5–9	128 580	126 298	254 879	10.63
10–14	123 694	121 865	245 558	10.24
15–19	124 166	125 481	249 647	10.41
20–24	115 200	122 132	237 332	9.89
25–29	119 873	126 346	246 219	10.26
30–34	100 116	101 907	202 022	8.42
35–39	81 067	79 112	160 179	6.68
40–44	57 769	59 857	117 626	4.90
45–49	44 873	52 572	97 445	4.06
50–54	35 232	43 380	78 612	3.28
55–59	28 866	35 160	64 026	2.67
60–64	20 546	23 976	44 522	1.86
65–69	14 503	18 366	32 869	1.37
70–74	11 211	15 159	26 370	1.10
75–79	8 254	12 940	21 195	0.88
80–84	5 775	9 884	15 659	0.65
85–89	3 346	6 423	9 769	0.41
90–94	1 631	3 014	4 645	0.19
95+	4 655	4 330	8 985	0.37
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	394 424	387 133	781 557	32.58
15–64	727 708	769 922	1 497 630	62.44
65+	49 375	70 116	119 491	4.98

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 18.III.2022):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	1 188 544	1 209 006	2 397 550	100
0–4	137 857	136 911	274 768	11.46
5–9	125 078	124 428	249 506	10.41
10–14	120 559	120 060	240 619	10.04
15–19	123 039	123 624	246 663	10.29
20–24	117 812	120 325	238 137	9.93
25–29	122 117	124 476	246 593	10.29
30–34	99 674	100 398	200 072	8.34
35–39	78 529	77 940	156 469	6.53
40–44	58 190	58 971	117 161	4.89
45–49	49 091	51 794	100 885	4.21
50–54	39 891	42 738	82 629	3.45
55–59	32 428	34 639	67 067	2.80
60–64	22 416	23 621	46 037	1.92
65–69	16 747	18 095	34 842	1.45
70–74	13 562	14 935	28 497	1.19
75–79	11 124	12 749	23 873	1.00
80–84	8 103	9 738	17 841	0.74
85–89	5 264	6 328	11 592	0.48
90–94	2 491	2 970	5 461	0.23
95+	4 572	4 266	8 838	0.37
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	383 494	381 399	764 893	31.90
15–64	743 187	758 526	1 501 713	62.64
65+	61 863	69 081	130 944	5.46

Vital statistics

United Nations estimates

Registration of vital events is in Botswana not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Population estimates account for under numeration in population censuses.

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	413	19	8	10	45.4	20.3	25.0	6.43	138.1	44.95
1951	423	19	9	11	45.6	20.3	25.3	6.43	136.4	45.25
1952	433	20	9	11	45.9	19.9	25.9	6.44	132.8	45.86
1953	442	21	9	12	46.4	19.5	26.8	6.49	129.3	46.46
1954	452	21	9	13	46.8	19.2	27.7	6.53	125.9	47.06
1955	462	22	9	13	47.2	18.8	28.4	6.56	122.6	47.65
1956	471	22	9	14	47.5	18.4	29.1	6.60	119.5	48.22
1957	481	23	9	14	47.7	18.1	29.7	6.65	116.5	48.74
1958	491	24	9	15	47.6	17.6	30.0	6.65	113.4	49.32
1959	502	24	9	15	47.5	17.2	30.3	6.65	110.6	49.84
1960	513	24	9	16	47.1	16.8	30.3	6.63	107.8	50.37
1961	524	25	9	16	46.6	16.3	30.3	6.60	105.0	50.89
1962	536	25	9	16	46.1	15.8	30.3	6.57	102.3	51.39
1963	549	25	8	17	46.2	15.4	30.8	6.63	99.7	51.88
1964	562	26	8	18	46.2	15.0	31.2	6.69	97.2	52.35
1965	571	27	8	18	45.9	14.6	31.3	6.69	94.8	52.81
1966	575	27	8	18	45.8	14.3	31.5	6.69	92.4	53.26
1967	579	27	8	19	45.7	14.0	31.7	6.68	90.0	53.72
1968	583	27	8	19	45.7	13.7	32.0	6.67	87.6	54.19
1969	587	27	8	19	45.6	13.4	32.3	6.64	85.0	54.68
1970	592	27	8	20	45.7	13.0	32.7	6.62	82.3	55.20
1971	604	28	8	20	45.8	12.7	33.1	6.59	79.6	55.75
1972	627	29	8	21	46.0	12.2	33.8	6.59	76.6	56.30
1973	657	30	8	22	46.1	11.7	34.4	6.59	73.6	56.86
1974	692	32	8	24	46.3	11.3	35.0	6.59	70.5	57.42
1975	728	34	8	26	46.4	10.9	35.5	6.58	67.3	58.00
1976	766	35	8	27	46.4	10.4	36.0	6.56	64.1	58.58
1977	807	37	8	29	46.0	10.0	36.0	6.50	61.0	59.17
1978	849	39	8	30	45.7	9.6	36.1	6.44	57.9	59.69
1979	894	40	8	32	45.1	9.2	35.9	6.36	55.0	60.18
1980	939	42	8	33	44.5	8.9	35.6	6.25	52.3	60.65
1981	983	43	8	34	43.7	8.5	35.2	6.13	49.7	61.13
1982	1 023	43	8	35	42.5	8.2	34.3	5.93	47.2	61.57
1983	1 061	44	8	36	41.5	7.9	33.5	5.75	44.9	62.00
1984	1 099	45	8	36	40.6	7.7	32.9	5.58	42.8	62.36
1985	1 139	45	8	37	39.8	7.5	32.3	5.43	40.8	62.63
1986	1 179	46	9	37	39.0	7.4	31.6	5.27	39.1	62.68
1987	1 220	46	9	37	37.8	7.3	30.4	5.06	37.7	62.52
1988	1 261	46	10	36	36.5	7.6	28.9	4.85	37.3	61.76
1989	1 302	46	10	36	35.3	7.7	27.7	4.65	36.5	61.43
1990	1 341	46	11	35	34.4	8.0	26.4	4.49	36.9	60.53
1991	1 381	46	12	35	33.5	8.4	25.1	4.34	38.2	59.47
1992	1 421	47	13	34	33.2	8.9	24.2	4.23	40.2	58.35
1993	1 462	48	14	34	32.8	9.3	23.5	4.13	42.4	57.72
1994	1 504	48	15	33	32.2	10.0	22.2	4.01	44.9	56.15
1995	1 544	48	16	31	31.0	10.6	20.4	3.80	47.8	55.06
1996	1 582	47	17	30	29.9	11.0	18.9	3.60	50.2	54.36
1997	1 619	47	19	28	29.1	11.5	17.6	3.46	52.7	53.45
1998	1 656	48	20	28	29.0	12.1	16.9	3.40	54.7	52.52
1999	1 692	49	21	27	28.9	12.6	16.3	3.34	56.3	51.69
2000	1 727	50	23	27	29.0	13.1	15.8	3.31	57.3	51.01
2001	1 762	51	24	27	28.9	13.4	15.5	3.26	57.1	50.68
2002	1 795	51	24	27	28.5	13.5	14.9	3.18	56.0	50.63
2003	1 827	51	24	27	28.2	13.4	14.8	3.11	54.6	50.95
2004	1 859	52	24	28	28.1	13.1	15.1	3.07	52.5	51.62
2005	1 893	54	24	30	28.4	12.6	15.8	3.08	48.9	52.61
2006	1 929	55	23	32	28.6	11.9	16.8	3.09	46.0	53.92
2007	1 967	56	21	35	28.6	10.9	17.6	3.08	43.4	55.73
2008	2 007	57	21	36	28.4	10.3	18.2	3.07	42.7	57.12
2009	2 049	58	20	38	28.2	9.7	18.5	3.05	41.2	58.28
2010	2 092	58	19	40	27.9	8.9	19.0	3.02	38.6	60.01
2011	2 134	59	19	40	27.6	8.7	18.9	3.00	38.9	60.53
2012	2 175	60	19	41	27.4	8.7	18.7	2.98	38.2	60.80
2013	2 217	60	18	42	27.1	8.2	18.9	2.96	37.4	62.00
2014	2 260	61	18	43	26.8	7.9	18.8	2.95	37.8	62.61
2015	2 305	61	17	44	26.4	7.4	19.0	2.94	37.4	63.82
2016	2 352	61	16	45	26.1	6.8	19.3	2.93	37.1	65.46
2017	2 402	62	15	46	25.7	6.3	19.4	2.91	36.2	66.75
2018	2 451	62	17	45	25.3	6.9	18.4	2.90	35.6	65.42
2019	2 500	62	17	45	24.9	7.0	17.9	2.88	34.9	65.46
2020	2 546	62	18	44	24.2	7.0	17.2	2.84	34.2	65.65
2021	2 588	61	24	37	23.6	9.5	14.1	2.79	33.3	61.14

Births and deaths

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
1964	514 876
1971	574 094				45.3	13.7	31.6	6.5
1981	941 027	45 026	12 835	32 191	48.7	13.9	34.8	6.6
1991	1 326 796	52 351	15 221	37 130	39.3	11.5	27.8	4.2
1992	1 358 639	52 416	15 344	37 072	38.6	11.3	27.3	4.2
1993	1 391 245	52 437	15 578	36 859	37.7	11.2	26.5	4.1
1994	1 424 636	52 598	15 822	36 776	36.9	11.1	25.8	4.1
1995	1 458 828	52 759	15 926	36 833	33.7	11.0	22.7	4.1
1996	1 495 993	52 921	16 031	36 890	32.4	10.9	21.5	4.0
1997	1 533 393	53 083	16 137	36 946	32.3	10.8	21.5	4.0
1998	1 571 728	53 245	16 244	37 001	32.2	10.7	21.5	4.0
1999	1 611 021	53 407	16 352	37 055	32.1	10.6	21.5	3.9
2001	1 680 862	41 080	20 823	20 257	28.9	12.4	16.5	3.3
2002	1 667 487
2003	1 691 390	41 206			24.4
2004	1 711 334	37 947			22.2
2005	1 727 372	46 945			27.2
2006	1 739 556	44 050	19 088	24 962	29.8	11.2	18.6	3.2
2007	1 756 651	44 452			25.3
2008	1 776 283	44 961			25.3
2009	1 798 372	46 624			25.9
2010	1 822 858	50 328			27.6
2011	2 024 904	51 871	13 301	38 570	25.7	6.3	19.4	2.89
2012	2 068 529	50 048	12 270	37 778	24.2	5.9	18.3
2013	2 110 050	49 839	11 967	37 872	23.6	5.6	18.0
2014	2 149 255	47 478	12 177	35 301	22.1	5.6	16.5
2015	2 185 903	57 480	13 030	44 450	26.3	6.0	20.3
2016	2 219 732	54 267	12 825	41 442	24.4	5.8	18.6
2017	2 254 021	52 358	12 386	39 972	23.2	5.5	17.7	3.1
2018	2 288 656	54 023	12 609	41 414	23.6	5.5	18.1	2.656
2019	2 323 493	54 100	13 185	40 015	23.3	5.7	17.6	2.648
2020	2 358 445	58 646	12 219	46 427	24.9	5.2	19.7	2.844
2021	2 393 396	50 962	17 590	33 372	21.1	7.3	13.8	2.478

Source: Vital Statistics Report 2012.

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy from 1950 to 2020 (UN World Population Prospects):

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	44.89
1955–1960	47.82
1960–1965	50.42
1965–1970	52.67
1970–1975	55.09
1975–1980	57.92
1980–1985	60.11
1985–1990	61.09
1990–1995	56.43
1995–2000	52.63
2000–2005	50.06
2005–2010	55.86
2010–2015	64.45
2015–2020	69.09

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Botswana

Tswana 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, Other 7% (including Kgalagadi, Indians and Whites).

Languages

Main article: Languages of Botswana

Setswana 77.3%, Kalanga 7.4%, Sekgalagadi 3.4%, English 2.8%, Shona 2.0%, Sesarwa 1.7%, Sehambukushu 1.6%, Ndebele 1.0%, Others 2.8%. (2011 est.)

Religions

Main article: Religion in Botswana

Christian 79.1%, Badimo 4.1%, Other 1.4% (includes the Baháʼí Faith, Hindu, Islam, Rastafari), None 15.2%, Unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.)

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

• One birth every 10 minutes
• One death every 37 minutes
• One net migrant every 180 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 12 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

2,359,609 (2022)

2,350,667 (July 2021 est.)

2,214,858 (July 2017 est.)

Religions

Christian 79.1%, Badimo 4.1%, other 1.4% (includes Baha'i, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian), none 15.2%, unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.)

Age structure

Pyramid population of Botswana in 2020

0-14 years: 30.54% (male 357,065/female 350,550)

15-24 years: 18.31% (male 208,824/female 215,462)

25-54 years: 39.67% (male 434,258/female 484,922)

55-64 years: 5.92% (male 59,399/female 77,886)

65 years and over: 5.56% (male 53,708/female 75,159) (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.39 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 74th

The total fertility rate is 2.42 children born/woman (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 74th

Population growth rate

1.4% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 68th

1.43% (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 67th

1.55% (2017 est.)

Birth rate

20.28 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 70th

20.6 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 71st

22.1 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

9.05 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 59th

9.12 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 61st

9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Median age

Total: 25.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 157th

Male: 24.5 years

Female: 26.7 years (2020 est.)

Total: 24.5 years

Male: 23.5 years

Female: 25.6 years (2017 est.)

Net migration rate

2.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st

2.85 migrants/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th

Urbanization

urban population: 72.2% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Urban population: 70.9% of total population (2020)

Rate of urbanization: 2.87% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.9 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.76 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 65.64 years

male: 63.6 years

female: 67.74 years (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 200th

Total population: 65.2 years

Male: 63.2 years

Female: 67.3 years (2021 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

67.4% (2017)

Maternal mortality rate

144 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 59th

HIV/AIDS

Main article: HIV/AIDS in Botswana

Adult prevalence rate: 22.2% (2019 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 380,000 (2019 est.)

Deaths due to AIDS: 5,000 (2019 est.) Country comparison to the world: 25th

Physicians density

0.53 physicians/1,000 population (2016)

Hospital bed density

1.8 beds/1,000 population (2010)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

18.9% (2016)

Major infectious diseases

Degree of risk: high (2020)

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne disease: malaria

Nationality

Noun: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)

Adjective: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 88.5%

Male: 88%

Female: 88.9% (2015 est.)

Education expenditure

8.7% of total GDP (2007)

Sanitation facility access

Improved:

Urban: 92.9% of population

Rural: 60.8% of population

Total: 82.8% of population

Unimproved:

Urban: 7.1% of population

Rural: 39.2% of population

Total: 17.2% of population (2017 est.)

Migrants

According to the United Nations, there were 110,596 international migrants in Botswana in 2019. Their most common countries of origin were as follows:

International migrants in Botswana in 2019
Zimbabwe	64,477
South Africa	5,780
India	5,668
China	4,792
Zambia	4,429
Malawi	1,484
United Kingdom	1,320
Nigeria	1,238
Kenya	1,215
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1,133
Sri Lanka	992
Namibia	992
United States	923
Tanzania	818
Angola	782
Netherlands	640
Ireland	629
Eswatini	611
Mozambique	607
Source: United Nations"Migrant Stock by Origin and Destination". 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2009 edition.)

• Botswana Demographics 2001 Central Statistics Office (Botswana), Census and Demographic Statistics for the year 2001.