Demographics of Mali

In 2018, Mali's population was an estimated 19.1 million[1][2], with an annual growth rate of 2.7%.[3] This figure can be compared to 4,638,000 in 1950.[4] The population is predominantly rural (68% in 2002), and 5–10% of Malians are nomadic.[5] More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has over 1 million residents.[5]

In 2007, about 48% of Malians were less than 15 years old, 49% were 15–64 years old, and 3% were 65 and older.[3] The median age was 15.9 years.[3] The birth rate in 2007 was 49.6 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate was 7.4 children per woman.[3]

The death rate in 2007 was 16.5 deaths per 1,000.[3] Life expectancy at birth was 49.5 years total (47.6 for males and 51.5 for females).[3] Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality,[5] with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births.[3]

The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 47.2%.[4] 50.6% of the population were aged between 15 and 65 years of age. 2.2% of the population were aged 65 years or older.[4]

Structure of the population

Population pyramid 2016

Structure of the population (01.04.2009) (Census, Complete tabulation):[6]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	7 204 990	7 323 672	14 528 662	100
0-4	1 328 871	1 294 514	2 623 385	18,06
5-9	1 202 875	1 154 948	2 357 823	16,23
10-14	918 866	865 138	1 784 004	12,28
15-19	732 526	783 620	1 516 146	10,44
20-24	529 535	612 368	1 141 903	7,86
25-29	449 099	546 603	995 702	6,85
30-34	385 003	427 795	812 798	5,59
35-39	325 005	326 894	651 949	4,49
40-44	271 239	275 364	546 603	3,76
45-49	228 626	217 261	445 887	3,07
50-54	189 424	192 382	381 806	2,63
55-59	148 594	134 083	282 677	1,95
60-64	127 557	123 461	251 018	1,73
65-69	88 292	77 082	165 374	1,14
70-74	67 319	66 063	133 382	0,92
75-79	40 904	36 197	77 101	0,53
80+	41 992	43 602	85 594	0,59
unknown	129 213	146 297	275 510	1,90

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	3 450 612	3 314 600	6 765 212	46,56
15-64	3 386 658	3 639 831	7 026 489	48,36
65+	238 507	222 944	461 451	3,18

Structure of the population (DHS 2012-2013) (Males 27 571, Females 28 264 = 55 836) :

Age Group	Male (%)	Female (%)	Total (%)
0-4	19,7	18,3	19,0
5-9	18,8	17,7	18,3
10-14	15,9	14,8	15,3
15-19	7,4	7,1	7,2
20-24	4,5	6,9	5,7
25-29	4,5	7,7	6,1
30-34	4,7	6,1	5,4
35-39	4,6	4,9	4,8
40-44	3,8	3,3	3,5
45-49	3,4	2,4	2,9
50-54	2,9	4,9	3,9
55-59	2,1	2,2	2,1
60-64	2,9	1,8	2,3
65-69	2,0	0,9	1,5
70-74	1,2	0,5	0,9
75-79	0,7	0,3	0,5
80+	0,8	0,3	0,5
unknown	0,1	0,1	0,1

Age group	Male (%)	Female (%)	Total (%)
0-14	54,4	50,8	52,6
15-64	40,8	47,1	43,9
65+	4,7	2,0	3,4

A family in Djenné, Mali.

Ethnic groups include:[7] Bambara 33.3%, Fulani (French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe) 13.3%, Sarakole 9.8%, Senufo 9.6%, Malinke 8.8%, Dogon 8.7%, Songhai 5.9%, Bobo 2.1%, Tuareg/Bella 1.7%, other Malian 6%, ECOWAS citizens 0.4%, other 0.3% (2018 est.).

Mali's population consists of Sub-Saharan ethnic groups, sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are two nomadic northern groups, the Tuaregs, a Berber people, and Maurs (or Moors), of Arabo-Berber origins. In Mali and Niger, the Moors are also known as Azawagh Arabs, named after the Azawagh region of the Sahara.[8] Azawagh Arabs speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic which is one of the regional varieties of Arabic.[9]

The Tuaregs traditionally have opposed the central government. Starting in June 1990 in the north, Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy led to clashes with the military. In April 1992, the government and most opposing factions signed a pact to end the fighting and restore stability in the north. Its major aims are to allow greater autonomy to the north and increase government resource allocation to what has been a traditionally impoverished region. The peace agreement was celebrated in 1996 in Timbuktu during an official and highly publicized ceremony called "Flamme de la Paix"--(peace flame).

Historically, interethnic relations throughout the rest of the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the Niger River and across the country's vast savannahs. Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific occupation, all working within proximity to each other, although the distinctions were often blurred.

The Bambara, Malinké, Sarakole, Dogon and Songhay are farmers; the Fula or Fulani, Maur, and Tuareg are herders, while the Bozo are fishers. In recent years this linkage has shifted considerably, as ethnic groups seek nontraditional sources of income.

Registration of vital events is in Mali not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. [4]

Births and deaths[6]

Mali had an estimated net migration rate of –6.6 migrants per 1,000 people in 2006.[13] About 3 million Malians are believed to reside in Côte d'Ivoire and France. Conversely, according to a 2003 estimate, Mali hosts about 11,000 Mauritanians; most are Fulani herders who routinely engage in cross-border migration. In addition, there are several thousand refugees from Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in Bamako and other urban areas of Mali.[5]

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[14]

• One birth every 39 seconds
• One death every 3 minutes
• One net migrant every 13 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 55 seconds

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook[15] unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure

Population pyramid of Mali in 2017

0-14 years: 48.03% (male 4,449,790 /female 4,402,076)

15-24 years: 18.89% (male 1,657,609 /female 1,823,453)

25-54 years: 26.36% (male 2,243,158 /female 2,615,695)

55-64 years: 3.7% (male 346,003 /female 335,733)

65 years and over: 3.02% (male 277,834 /female 278,542) (2018 est.)

Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians communicate over ethnic borders in Bambara, which is the common language of the marketplace. French is the country's official language and is spoken somewhat by 30% of Malians.

An estimated 95% of Malians are Muslim (mostly Sunni), 4% adhere to indigenous or traditional animist beliefs, and 1% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant).[3][5] Atheism and agnosticism are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion on a daily basis.[5] Islam as practiced in Mali can be moderate, tolerant, and adapted to local conditions; relations between Muslims and practitioners of minority religious faiths are generally amicable.[5] The constitution establishes a secular state and provides for freedom of religion, and the government largely respects this right.[5]

Mali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world. In 2000 only 62–65 percent of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69 percent to sanitation services of some kind; only 8 percent was estimated to have access to modern sanitation facilities. Only 20 percent of the nation’s villages and livestock watering holes had modern water facilities.[5]

There were an estimated 140,000 cases of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) reported in 2003, and an estimated 1.9 percent of the adult population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (see also HIV/AIDS in Africa).[5] In the same year, there were 12,000 AIDS deaths. The infant mortality rate is 69.5 deaths/1,000 live births (75.3/1,000 among males and 63.5/1,000 among females) (2017 est.). Life expectancy at birth is 60.3 years (58.2 years among males and 62.5 years among females) (2017 est.).

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years[16]
1950–1955	26.96
1955–1960	27.98
1960–1965	28.61
1965–1970	30.79
1970–1975	34.20
1975–1980	37.71
1980–1985	41.55
1985–1990	44.51
1990–1995	46.57
1995–2000	46.75
2000–2005	49.96
2005–2010	54.03
2010–2015	56.24

In the 2000–01 school year, the primary school enrollment rate was 61% (71% of males and 51% of females). The primary school completion rate is also low: only 36 percent of students in 2003 (and lower for females). The majority of students reportedly leave school by age 12. In the late 1990s, the secondary school enrollment rate was 15% percent (20% of males and 10% of females).[5]

According to United States government estimates, the adult literacy rate (defined as those over age 15 who can read and write) was 46.4 percent for the total population in 2003 (53.5 percent for males and 39.6 percent for females). According to United Nations sources, however, the literacy rate is actually much lower—only 27–30 percent overall and as low as 12 percent for females, among the lowest rates in Africa.

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• Samaké, Salif; Traoré, Seydou Moussa; Ba, Souleymane; Dembélé, Étienne; Diop, Mamadou; Mariko, Soumaïla; Libité, Paul Roger (2007), Mali: Enquête Démographique et de Santé (EDSM-IV) 2006 (PDF), Calverton, MD, USA: Demographic and Health Surveys.