Demographics of Guinea

Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guinea's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.

Demographics of Guinea
Population pyramid of Guinea in 2020
Population	13,237,832 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	2.76% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	35.67 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	8.12 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	63.9 years
• male	62.04 years
• female	65.82 years
Fertility rate	4.85 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	49.63 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	41.2%
65 and over	3.91%
Sex ratio
Total	1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.02 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.68 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Guinean
Language
Official	French

Population

Guinea's total population, from 1961 to 2003. Guinea's population came close to tripling in forty years.

Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 13,531,906 in 2021, compared to only 3 094 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42.9%, 53.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.3% was 65 years or older .

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	3 094 000	37.1	57.6	5.3
1955	3 300 000	38.6	57.0	4.4
1960	3 541 000	40.0	56.2	3.8
1965	3 823 000	41.8	54.9	3.4
1970	4 154 000	42.2	54.6	3.2
1975	4 287 000	42.6	54.3	3.1
1980	4 407 000	43.3	53.5	3.2
1985	4 924 000	43.9	52.8	3.3
1990	5 759 000	44.4	52.3	3.3
1995	7 565 000	44.6	52.1	3.3
2000	8 344 000	44.2	52.4	3.3
2005	9 041 000	43.6	53.0	3.3
2010	9 982 000	42.9	53.8	3.3

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Population in households only. Post-censal estimates.):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	6 091 847	6 467 776	12 559 623	100
0–4	1 037 280	1 022 153	2 059 433	16.40
5–9	959 509	929 185	1 888 694	15.04
10–14	822 307	806 488	1 628 795	12.97
15–19	657 907	666 443	1 324 350	10.54
20–24	528 044	567 632	1 095 676	8.72
25–29	417 642	512 403	930 045	7.41
30–34	339 033	443 928	782 962	6.23
35–39	275 317	357 350	632 667	5.04
40–44	228 609	289 300	517 909	4.12
45–49	192 971	228 709	421 680	3.36
50–54	162 513	181 040	343 553	2.74
55–59	135 604	137 422	273 025	2.17
60–64	110 535	105 633	216 168	1.72
65–69	85 963	81 143	167 106	1.33
70–74	62 168	59 044	121 212	0.97
75–79	39 993	39 338	79 331	0.63
80+	36 453	40 565	77 018	0.61
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	2 819 096	2 757 826	5 576 922	44.40
15–64	3 048 174	3 489 860	6 538 034	52.06
65+	224 577	220 090	444 667	3.54

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Guinea not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.

	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	2 984	135	85	49	45.0	28.6	16.4	5.97	202.7	35.55
1951	3 032	137	88	49	45.1	29.1	16.1	5.98	202.7	35.55
1952	3 081	139	90	49	45.2	29.2	16.0	5.99	202.6	35.59
1953	3 131	142	92	50	45.3	29.3	16.0	6.01	202.3	35.67
1954	3 182	145	93	51	45.4	29.3	16.1	6.02	201.9	35.73
1955	3 234	147	94	53	45.5	29.1	16.3	6.04	201.5	35.90
1956	3 288	150	96	54	45.5	29.1	16.5	6.05	200.9	35.97
1957	3 342	152	97	56	45.6	29.0	16.6	6.07	200.2	36.06
1958	3 399	155	98	57	45.6	28.8	16.9	6.08	199.3	36.25
1959	3 457	158	99	59	45.6	28.6	17.0	6.10	198.3	36.36
1960	3 517	161	100	61	45.7	28.4	17.3	6.11	197.3	36.55
1961	3 579	164	101	63	45.7	28.1	17.5	6.13	196.1	36.75
1962	3 642	166	102	65	45.7	27.9	17.7	6.14	194.9	36.91
1963	3 708	169	102	67	45.6	27.6	18.0	6.15	193.7	37.16
1964	3 776	172	103	68	45.5	27.4	18.1	6.17	192.4	37.34
1965	3 845	175	104	71	45.5	27.1	18.4	6.18	191.1	37.60
1966	3 917	178	105	73	45.4	26.8	18.6	6.19	189.7	37.84
1967	3 991	181	106	75	45.3	26.5	18.8	6.20	188.2	38.12
1968	4 067	184	106	78	45.3	26.1	19.3	6.21	186.8	38.56
1969	4 145	188	107	81	45.3	25.9	19.4	6.23	185.3	38.72
1970	4 222	192	108	84	45.4	25.6	19.8	6.24	183.9	39.01
1971	4 298	195	109	86	45.4	25.3	20.1	6.26	182.3	39.31
1972	4 372	199	110	89	45.4	25.0	20.4	6.28	180.7	39.67
1973	4 445	202	111	92	45.4	24.9	20.6	6.31	179.0	39.89
1974	4 517	205	112	94	45.4	24.6	20.7	6.34	177.2	40.14
1975	4 588	209	112	97	45.3	24.3	21.1	6.37	175.3	40.59
1976	4 659	212	112	100	45.3	23.9	21.4	6.40	173.2	41.02
1977	4 730	216	112	104	45.4	23.6	21.8	6.43	170.9	41.41
1978	4 805	220	112	108	45.5	23.2	22.3	6.47	168.6	41.90
1979	4 885	225	112	113	45.9	22.9	23.0	6.54	166.2	42.39
1980	4 973	229	112	116	45.9	22.5	23.3	6.54	163.8	42.88
1981	5 067	233	113	120	45.9	22.2	23.7	6.56	161.4	43.32
1982	5 171	239	113	126	46.1	21.8	24.3	6.58	159.1	43.93
1983	5 282	244	114	131	46.1	21.5	24.7	6.59	156.8	44.38
1984	5 402	250	114	136	46.2	21.1	25.1	6.60	154.4	44.95
1985	5 532	256	114	142	46.3	20.7	25.6	6.61	152.0	45.52
1986	5 671	263	116	148	46.4	20.4	26.0	6.64	149.7	45.92
1987	5 821	271	117	154	46.6	20.0	26.5	6.67	147.4	46.42
1988	5 977	278	119	159	46.5	19.9	26.7	6.66	145.0	46.59
1989	6 136	285	121	164	46.5	19.7	26.8	6.66	142.4	46.85
1990	6 354	292	123	169	46.3	19.5	26.8	6.63	139.6	47.00
1991	6 616	305	126	180	46.4	19.1	27.3	6.59	136.6	47.55
1992	6 832	316	126	190	46.2	18.5	27.8	6.55	133.4	48.36
1993	7 046	322	126	196	45.9	18.0	27.9	6.49	129.9	48.96
1994	7 262	328	129	199	45.2	17.7	27.4	6.41	126.6	49.17
1995	7 468	331	128	204	44.4	17.1	27.3	6.34	123.0	49.87
1996	7 683	340	127	213	44.2	16.6	27.7	6.25	119.1	50.54
1997	7 843	345	126	219	43.7	15.9	27.8	6.16	115.5	51.36
1998	7 993	342	123	219	42.7	15.4	27.3	6.08	111.9	52.05
1999	8 175	346	123	223	42.2	15.0	27.2	6.01	108.1	52.36
2000	8 337	349	124	225	41.6	14.8	26.8	5.94	104.4	52.48
2001	8 446	349	124	226	41.0	14.5	26.5	5.85	100.8	52.66
2002	8 578	348	121	227	40.5	14.1	26.5	5.79	97.3	53.28
2003	8 772	353	121	232	40.1	13.7	26.4	5.74	94.0	53.68
2004	8 961	359	120	239	39.9	13.4	26.5	5.72	91.0	54.12
2005	9 140	366	120	247	39.9	13.0	26.9	5.70	88.4	54.63
2006	9 331	373	119	254	39.8	12.7	27.1	5.66	86.0	55.11
2007	9 547	381	119	262	39.8	12.4	27.4	5.62	84.0	55.55
2008	9 780	390	119	271	39.8	12.1	27.6	5.56	82.0	56.04
2009	10 021	399	120	279	39.7	11.9	27.8	5.51	80.4	56.35
2010	10 271	405	120	285	39.4	11.7	27.7	5.40	78.8	56.72
2011	10 528	410	121	289	38.9	11.5	27.5	5.30	77.4	57.02
2012	10 789	415	121	294	38.4	11.2	27.2	5.20	76.1	57.41
2013	11 055	422	121	301	38.1	10.9	27.2	5.12	74.8	57.79
2014	11 333	430	123	307	37.9	10.9	27.0	5.05	73.9	57.89
2015	11 626	441	125	316	37.9	10.7	27.2	5.02	72.7	58.13
2016	11 931	446	124	323	37.4	10.4	27.0	4.93	71.2	58.76
2017	12 241	449	124	325	36.6	10.1	26.5	4.79	70.1	59.11
2018	12 555	451	125	326	35.9	9.9	26.0	4.67	68.8	59.35
2019	12 878	456	125	331	35.4	9.7	25.7	4.58	67.4	59.72
2020	13 205	462	130	332	34.9	9.8	25.1	4.49	66.0	59.33
2021	13 532	466	135	331	34.4	10.0	24.4	4.40	64.4	58.89

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1992	41	5.67 (5.1)	37	5.18 (4.5)	42	5.89 (5.3)
1999	36.9	5.5 (5.0)	32.9	4.4 (3.8)	38.4	6.1 (5.6)
2005	38.4	5.7 (5.1)	31.8	4.4 (3.9)	40.8	6.3 (5.7)
2012	34	5.1 (4.6)	29.4	3.8	36.1	5.8
2018	33.6	4.8 (4.3)	29.4	3.8 (3.4)	35.8	5.5 (4.9)
2021	32.5	4.1	28.5	3.1	34.3	4.7

Fertility data as of 2012 and 2018 (DHS Program):

Administrative region	Total fertility rate (2012)	Total fertility rate (2018)	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant (2012)	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant (2018)	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 (2012)	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 (2018)
Boké	4.7	4.8	14.4	9.7	5.6	5.2
Conakry	3.6	3.2	6.2	5.8	4.8	4.1
Faranah	5.8	5.8	11.6	10.5	6.7	5.8
Kankan	6.9	6.5	14.4	13.6	6.9	6.9
Kindia	5.2	5.0	12.4	10.2	6.2	5.5
Labé	5.3	5.6	8.9	7.6	6.5	5.0
Mamou	5.4	4.1	8.4	7.9	6.1	4.8
N'Zérékoré	5.1	4.5	11.0	6.3	5.6	4.2

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	33.07
1955–1960	34.33
1960–1965	35.38
1965–1970	36.14
1970–1975	37.43
1975–1980	39.87
1980–1985	43.05
1985–1990	47.92
1990–1995	51.28
1995–2000	51.61
2000–2005	51.31
2005–2010	55.45
2010–2015	57.93

Ethnic groups

• Fulɓe (singular Pullo). Called Peuhl or Peul in French, Fula or Fulani in English, who are chiefly found in the mountainous region of Fouta Djallon;
• Maninka. Malinke in French, Mandingo in English, mostly inhabiting the savanna of Upper Guinea and the Forest region;
• Susus or Soussous. Susu is not a lingua franca in Guinea. Although it is commonly spoken in the coastal areas, including the capital, Conakry, it is not largely understood in the interior of the country.
• Several small groups (Gerzé or Kpelle, Toma, Kissis, etc.) in the forest region and Bagas (including Landoumas), Koniaguis etc.), In the coastal area.

West Africans make up the largest non-Guinean population. Non-Africans total about 30,000 (mostly French, other Europeans, and Lebanese). Seven national languages are used extensively; the major written languages are French, Pular (English: Fula; French: Peul or Peuhl), and Arabic.

Other languages have established Latin orthographies that are used somewhat, notably for Susu and Maninka. The N'Ko script is increasingly used on a grassroots level for the Maninka language.

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

• One birth every 1 minutes
• One death every 5 minutes
• One net migrant every 131 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 1 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

13,237,832 (2022 est.)

11,855,411 (July 2018 est.)

Religions

See also: Religion in Guinea

Muslim 86.8%, Christian 3.52%, Indigenous beliefs 9.42%, Buddhist 0.5%, no religious beliefs 0.1% (2020).

Age structure

Population pyramid of Guinea in 2020

0-14 years: 41.2% (male 2,601,221/female 2,559,918)

15-24 years: 19.32% (male 1,215,654/female 1,204,366)

25-54 years: 30.85% (male 1,933,141/female 1,930,977)

55-64 years: 4.73% (male 287,448/female 305,420)

65 years and over: 3.91% (male 218,803/female 270,492) (2020 est.)

0-14 years: 41.4% (male 2,473,486 /female 2,435,139)

15-24 years: 19.23% (male 1,145,488 /female 1,134,103)

25-54 years: 30.8% (male 1,827,246 /female 1,824,162)

55-64 years: 4.72% (male 269,995 /female 289,164)

65 years and over: 3.85% (male 203,754 /female 252,874) (2018 est.)

Median age

total: 19.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 205th

male: 18.9 years

female: 19.4 years (2020 est.)

total: 19 years. Country comparison to the world: 204th

male: 18.8 years

female: 19.3 years (2018 est.)

Total: 18.9 years

Male: 18.7 years

Female: 19.1 years (2017 est.)

Population growth rate

2.76% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 14th

2.75% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 13th

2.61% (2017 est.)

Birth rate

35.67 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 13th

36.4 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 16th

Death rate

8.12 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 82nd

8.9 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 64th

Total fertility rate

4.85 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 11st

4.98 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 14th

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.9 years (2018 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

18.9 years (2012 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

10.9% (2018)

8.7% (2016)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 89th

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 84.2 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 78.6 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 5.6 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 17.8 (2015 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 63.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 205th

male: 62.04 years

female: 65.82 years (2022 est.)

total population: 62.1 years (2018 est.)

male: 60.4 years (2018 est.)

female: 64 years (2018 est.)

total population: 61 years

male: 59.5 years

female: 62.6 years (2017 est.)

Urbanization

See also: Guinea § Demography

urban population: 37.7% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 3.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 36.1% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 3.54% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.78 male(s)/female
total population 1 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 1.5% (2017 est.) People living with HIV/AIDS: 120,000 (2017 est.) Deaths: 5,100 (2017 est.)

Nationality

noun Guinean(s)
adjective Guinean

Ethnic groups

• Fulani (Peul) 33,4%
• Malinke 29,4%
• Soussou 21.2%
• Guerze 7.8%
• Kissi 6.2%
• Toma 1.6%
• Other/No Answer 4% (2018 est.)

Languages

French (official), each ethnic group has its own language.

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

total population: 39.6%

male: 54.4%

female: 27.7% (2018)

total population: 30.4% (2015 est.)

male: 38.1% (2015 est.)

female: 22.8% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 9 years

male: 10 years

female: 8 years (2014)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

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

vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

aerosolized dust or soil contact diseases: Lassa fever (2016)

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Guinea is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 1% (2012 est.)

male: 1.5% (2012 est.)

female: 0.6% (2012 est.)

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2007 edition.)