Demographics of Ethiopia

The demographics of Ethiopia encompass the demographic features of inhabitants in Ethiopia, including ethnicity, languages, population density, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Ethnic groups.
The country's population is highly diverse, comprising over 90 different ethnic groups. Most people in Ethiopia speak Afroasiatic languages, mainly of the Semitic or Cushitic branches. Among these are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans, who together constitute around three-quarters of the population.
Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic minorities also inhabit the southern regions of the country, particularly in areas bordering South Sudan. Among these are the Mursi and Anuak.
Languages.
Ethiopia, like most countries in Africa, is a multi-ethnic state. Although the original physical differences between the major ethnic groups have been blurred by centuries, if not millennia, of intermarriage, there remain many who are distinct and unique.
Ethnic differences may also be observed from the great variety of languages spoken in the country, of which there are eighty-three, with 200 dialects. These can be broken into four main groups: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan.
The Semitic languages of Ethiopia are related to both Hebrew and Arabic. The Ethiopian languages of this family are derived from Ethio-Semitic the ancestor of Ge'ez, the language of the ancient Axumite kingdom, which was also the language of the country's literature prior to the mid-nineteenth century, as well as parts of most present-day church services.
Ethiopia's Semitic languages are today spoken mainly in the north and centre of the country. The most important of them in the north is Tigrinya, which is used throughout Tigray.
The principal Semitic language of the north-west and centre of the country is Amharic, which is the language of the Amhara Region. Moreover, Amharic is also one of the official working languages of Ethiopia. Moreover, Amharic is also the language of much modern Ethiopian literature.
Two other Semitic languages are spoken to the south and east of Addis Ababa: the Gurage languages, a cluster of languages used by the Gurage in an area to the south of the capital, and Adare, a tongue spoken only within the old walled city of Harar and used by the Adare people, also known as Harrari.
The Cushitic languages, which are less closely related than the Semitic, are found mainly in the south of the country. The most important tongue in this group is Oromo. It is used in a wide stretch of the country, including Oromia, Dire Dawa, Harari Region, Oromia Zone and Addis Ababa and the surrounding Special Zone.
Oromo serves as one of the official working languages of Ethiopia and is also the working language of several of the states within the Ethiopian federal system including Oromia, Harar and Dire Dawa regional states and of the Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region.
Other Cushitic languages in the area comprise Somali, which is spoken by the Somali in the Somali Region to the east, as well as in the neighboring Somali Republic and parts of Djibouti, and the Sidamo language, used in the Sidama Region. Cushitic languages, however, are also used in the north of the country, namely Afar, spoken in the Afar Region and the northern half of the Djibouti Republic; Saho, in parts of Tigray; and Agaw, a group of languages in various pockets in western and northern Ethiopia.
The Omotic group of languages, which comprise considerably fewer speakers than either the Semitic or the Cushitic languages, are spoken in the south-west of the country. They have been given that name because they are spoken in the general area of the Omo River.
The Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken in a wide arc of the country towards the Sudan and South-Sudan frontier. They include, from north to south, Gumuz and Berta in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and Anuak in Gambela Region.
Modern contraception utilization.
Only 28.1% within the ages of 15–49 years used modern contraceptives, according to the data from 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey.
Religion.
Various religions are adhered to in Ethiopia. Most Christians live in the highlands, whereas Muslims mainly inhabit the lowlands. Adherents of traditional faiths are primarily concentrated in the southern regions.
According to the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (2007 census), the national religious composition is Ethiopian Orthodox 43.5%, Protestantism 18.6%, Roman Catholicism 0.7%, Islam 33.9%, traditional 2.6%, and others 0.6%.
Population.
Source: Central Statistical Agency (CSA)
UN estimates.
According to , the total population was in , compared to 18,434,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 41.5%, 55.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.3% was 65 years or older. The average age was 25.1.
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):
UN projections.
Below are the UN's medium variant projections:
Vital statistics.
Registration of vital events in Ethiopia is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates:
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1,000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1,000); NC = natural change (per 1,000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1,000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1,000 births
Source: "UN World Population Prospects"
Total fertility rate in Ethiopia (census 2007).
As per 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia
Fertility and Births (Demographic and Health Surveys).
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Fertility data as of 2011 (DHS Program):
Other demographic statistics.
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.
Religions.
Ethiopian Orthodox 43.8%, Muslim 31.3%, Protestant 22.8%, Catholic 0.7%, traditional 0.6%, other 0.8% (2016 est.)
Major infectious diseases.
note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Ethiopia 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
References.
Attribution