Demographics - Algeria
Algeria has a current population of 42,759,882 people, with a net growth rate of one person every 39 seconds. The country's population lives primarily in urban areas, with the most-populated city being Algiers. More data concerning age, gender, population size and distribution, education, marital status, and employment has been outlined below.
AGE
- Algeria is considered a "young" country, with more than a quarter of its population being under the age of 15.
- Specifically, 29.31 percent of the country's population is under the age of 15. A further 14.3 percent of the population falls between the ages of 15 and 24; 42.93 percent between 25 and 54; 6.81 percent between 55 and 64; and 5.65 percent aged 65 or older.
- The median age in the country is 28.
- The country has a life expectancy of 77 years.
GENDER
- The country's population is mostly equally distributed between men and women, with women making up 50.52 percent of the population, and men accounting for 49.48 percent.
POPULATION SIZE AND GROWTH/DECLINE
- Algeria has a current population of 42,759,882 people.
- While the country's population growth has been slightly decreasing each year since 2015, it "has comparatively stabilized after the long period of war it experienced".
- "The growth rate is projected to continue declining in the years to come, but the population will continue increasing overall. The population is projected to be 43,333,255 in 2020, and 48,821,963 in 2030."
- Ultimately, the country experiences a net gain of one person every 39 seconds based on birth and death rates, and immigration into the country.
- As of 2017, the country's population growth rate was 1.7 percent.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
- A full 90 percent of Algeria's population lives in the country's coastal northern region.
- The remaining 10 percent of the population lives throughout the Sahara desert.
- "There are about 1.5 million remaining nomadic and semi-nomadic people in the country."
- The country has a significant refugee population of about 96,000 people coming primarily from Western Sahara and China.
- The country's most populous city is Algiers, with a population of 1,977,663 people, followed by Boumerdas with 786,499 people.
- The majority of the country's population — 71.9 percent — lives in urban areas.
EDUCATION
- The country's population has an overall literacy rate of 80.2 percent, with a significant difference between men and women. Specifically, the male population has a literacy rate of 87.2 percent, while the female population has a literacy rate of 73.1 percent.
- Children in the country attend school until, on average, 14 years of age. For girls, the average age is 15.
- Despite the difference in literacy rates, women make up 60 percent of the country's university students.
- Nearly 100 percent of primary-school-aged children in the country are enrolled in school.
- The typical Algerian child enters school for the first time at five years old, starting with one year of pre-primary education.
MARITAL STATUS
- Only .4 percent of the country's female population was married by age 15, and only 2.5 percent by age 18.
- In the past five years, the country's marriage rate has declined, while the divorce rate has increased.
- In 2018, only 350,000 marriages were recorded in the country, a decrease of five percent from 2016.
EMPLOYMENT
- As of 2019, Algeria had an unemployment rate of 11.70 percent, up slightly from 11.10 percent the previous year.
- Specifically, there are 1,440 people throughout the country who are considered unemployed.
- Comparatively, 7,424 people throughout the country are engaged in full-time employment, and 10,859 are employed (including both full- and part-time employees).