Demographics of Cape Verde

Demographics of Cape Verde
Population pyramid of Cape Verde in 2020
Population596,707 (2022 est.)
Growth rate1.21% (2022 est.)
Birth rate18.49 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate5.8 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy73.75 years
 • male71.41 years
 • female76.15 years
Fertility rate2.13 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality23.53 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-0.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Immigrant share3.1% (2024)[1]
Age structure
0–14 years27.95%
65 and over5.48%
Sex ratio
Total0.95 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.03 male(s)/female
Under 151.01 male(s)/female
65 and over0.52 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityCabo Verdean or Cape Verdean
Language
OfficialPortuguese
SpokenCape Verde Creole

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

Cape Verde has about 540,000 inhabitants. A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[2] Many more live abroad in the Cape Verdean diaspora in mainland Africa, Europe, U.S., Brazil, et cetera.

The archipelago of Cape Verde was first discovered and claimed by Portuguese sailors working for the Portuguese Crown in 1456. Cape Verdeans are West African. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country.

Two Cape Verdean children playing

The difficulty of survival in a country with few natural resources has historically induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. In fact, of the more than 1 million people of Cape Verdean ancestry in the world, only a little more than one-third actually live on the islands. Some 500,000 people of Cape Verdean ancestry live in the United States, mainly in New England. Many people of Cape Verdean ancestry also live in Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy and Senegal. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, Canada, and other CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil and Guinea-Bissau). Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Cape Verdean students have continued to be admitted every year to Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese and Cape Verdean governments.

Portuguese functions as a state language. Virtually all formal documents and official declarations are in Portuguese. But it is not the first language. Cape Verdean, commonly called Kriolu, is spoken as a mother tongue by virtually all Cape Verdeans, irrespective of social status or religious affiliation. Moreover, historical linguists often attribute Cape Verdean Creole as the oldest "New World" contact language. It is a "contact" language in the sense that it was born and evolved between linguistically different groups who, by necessity, had to create a common language to communicate with each other. There is a rich repertoire of literature and songs in Cape Verdean Creole. In religion, the majority of Cape Verdeans follow Catholic Christianity. There are some Protestants, Baháʼís and Muslims.

Population

Demographics of Cape Verde, Data of FAO, year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.
Census population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1930210,500—    
1940189,984−1.02%
1950199,902+0.51%
1960270,999+3.09%
1970295,703+0.88%
1980341,491+1.45%
2000431,989+1.18%
2010491,875+1.31%
2021491,233−0.01%
Source: [3]

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[4][5] the total population was 587,925 in 2021, compared to only 178,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 31.8%, 62.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.9% was 65 years or older.[6]


Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 16.VI.2010):[7]
Age group Male Female Total %
Total 243 403 248 280 491 683 100
0–4 25 131 25 069 50 200 10.21
5–9 25 168 25 040 50 208 10.21
10–14 27 864 27 361 55 225 11.23
15–19 29 655 29 405 59 060 12.01
20–24 27 327 25 578 52 905 10.76
25–29 23 336 21 005 44 341 9.02
30–34 18 165 16 339 34 504 7.02
35–39 14 106 13 130 27 236 5.54
40–44 12 988 13 303 26 291 5.35
45–49 11 347 12 165 23 512 4.78
50–54 8 162 9 999 18 161 3.69
55–59 4 947 7 196 12 143 2.47
60–64 2 613 3 580 6 193 1.26
65–69 2 499 3 716 6 215 1.26
70–74 3 437 5 229 8 666 1.76
75–79 2 980 4 453 7 433 1.51
80–84 2 092 3 185 5 277 1.07
85–89 827 1 358 2 185 0.44
90–94 377 696 1 073 0.22
95+ 172 325 497 0.10
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 78 163 77 470 155 633 31.65
15–64 152 646 151 700 304 346 61.90
65+ 12 384 18 962 31 346 6.38
Unknown 210 148 358 0.07
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data refer to national projections.):[8]
Age group Male Female Total %
Total 281 533 275 324 556 857 100
0–4 26 739 25 524 52 264 9.39
5–9 26 162 24 973 51 135 9.18
10–14 25 262 25 389 50 651 9.10
15–19 23 734 23 483 47 218 8.48
20–24 23 955 22 461 46 416 8.34
25–29 28 159 26 015 54 173 9.73
30–34 28 603 24 995 53 597 9.62
35–39 24 111 20 484 44 595 8.01
40–44 18 738 15 923 34 660 6.22
45–49 14 043 12 780 26 822 4.82
50–54 12 282 12 693 24 974 4.48
55–59 10 437 11 557 21 994 3.95
60–64 7 125 9 226 16 351 2.94
65–69 4 080 6 402 10 482 1.88
70–74 2 050 2 955 5 006 0.90
75–79 1 722 2 772 4 494 0.81
80–84 2 037 3 496 5 533 0.99
85–89 1 443 2 389 3 833 0.69
90–94 682 1 249 1 931 0.35
95+ 170 560 730 0.13
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 78 163 75 886 154 049 27.66
15–64 191 186 179 615 370 801 66.59
65+ 12 184 19 823 32 007 5.75
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 16.VI.2021): [9]
Age group Male Female Total %
Total 246 363 244 870 491 233 100
0–4 23 111 22 429 45 540 9.27
5–9 23 533 23 086 46 619 9.49
10–14 23 809 22 771 46 580 9.48
15–19 21 903 20 401 42 304 8.61
20–24 20 391 18 159 38 550 7.85
25–29 22 481 21 665 44 146 8.99
30–34 22 552 21 681 44 233 9.00
35–39 19 217 18 105 37 322 7.60
40–44 15 820 14 259 30 079 6.12
45–49 12 269 11 347 23 616 4.81
50–54 11 257 11 224 22 481 4.58
55–59 10 001 10 682 20 683 4.21
60–64 7 536 8 765 16 301 3.32
65–69 4 496 6 510 11 006 2.24
70–74 2 347 3 279 5 626 1.15
75–79 1 685 2 842 4 527 0.92
80–84 1 839 3 404 5 243 1.07
85–89 1 257 2 473 3 730 0.76
90–94 648 1 316 1 964 0.40
95+ 211 472 683 1.39
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 70 453 68 286 138 739 28.24
15–64 163 427 156 288 319 715 65.08
65+ 12 483 20 296 32 779 6.67

Vital statistics

Vital events of Cape Verde are not (yet) available for recent years. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[6]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR* CDR* NC* TFR* IMR*
1950–19559 0004 0005 00049.022.626.36.57139
1955–196010 0004 0005 00048.021.126.96.76132
1960–196510 0004 0006 00045.018.726.36.97125
1965–197011 0004 0006 00041.416.425.06.97117
1970–197512 0004 0008 00041.113.427.76.8696
1975–198013 0004 0009 00041.611.630.06.6278
1980–198513 0003 00010 00041.310.331.06.1065
1985–199014 0003 00011 00040.99.231.75.6354
1990–199514 0003 00011 00036.57.928.64.9344
1995–200013 0003 00010 00031.66.724.94.1537
2000–200512 0003 0009 00026.25.820.53.2828
2005–201011 0003 0008 00021.95.216.72.6021
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered births and deaths

[10][11]

Fertility

Total fertility rate (TFR) (wanted fertility rate) and crude birth rate (CBR):[12]

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
2005 22 2,9 (2,8) 23 2,7 (2,7) 22 3,1 (3,0)

Fertility data from 2005 (DHS Program):[13]

Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49
Santo Antão2.93.86.0
São Vicente2.03.44.0
São Nicolau3.34.44.2
Sal3.27.03.9
Boa Vista2.410.04.4
Maio2.61.74.3
Santiago3.15.44.5
Praia Urbano3.25.14.5
Santiago Norte2.76.24.3
Resto Santiago3.34.64.8
Fogo3.16.35.6
Brava2.87.05.0

Life expectancy

Period Life expectancy in
Years[14]
1950–1955 48.08
1955–1960 Increase 48.77
1960–1965 Increase 49.45
1965–1970 Increase 52.43
1970–1975 Increase 55.25
1975–1980 Increase 60.52
1980–1985 Increase 62.37
1985–1990 Increase 64.10
1990–1995 Increase 65.73
1995–2000 Increase 67.94
2000–2005 Increase 71.27
2005–2010 Increase 71.77
2010–2015 Increase 72.14

Ethnic groups

Genetics

E1b1a, R1b

The predominance of West African mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in their maternal gene pool, the major West African Y-chromosome lineage E3a was observed only at a frequency of 15.9%. Overall, these results indicate that gene flow from multiple sources and sex-specific patterns have been important in the formation of the genomic diversity in the Cabo Verde islands.[15]

Languages

Portuguese (official), Kriolu[16]

According to results from 2016, 72.8% of the population aged 12 or above could speak a language besides Kriolu, and the vast majority of them spoke Portuguese, the official language of the country and the language from colonial time. Ability to speak non-Kriolu languages also varied greatly by age, with younger generations being substantially more likely to speak a non-creole language.[17]

Percentage of population aged 12 or above by ability to speak various languages
Any non-creole languages Portuguese English French Spanish Italian
Total 12+ 72.8 72.2 16.5 13.5 3.0 0.9
12-14 84.8 84.7 8.5 7.0 0.0 0.1
15-24 88.6 88.1 25.0 19.5 1.2 0.3
25-44 79.8 78.8 20.5 15.8 4.3 1.6
45-64 54.6 54.4 7.2 7.8 4.6 0.6
65 + 26.4 26.3 2.6 4.5 1.8 1.1

Religion

Catholic 77.3%, Protestant 3.7% (includes Church of the Nazarene 1.7%, Adventist 1.5%, Universal Kingdom of God 0.4%, and God and Love 0.1%), other Christian 4.3% (includes Christian Rationalism 1.9%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, Assembly of God 0.9%, and New Apostolic 0.5%), Islam 1.8%, Other 1.3%, None 10.8%, Unspecified 0.7% (2010 estimate)[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "International Migrant Stock". United Nations Population Division. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  2. ↑ "Cape Verde: Population". Caperverde.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Evolução da população residente em Cabo Verde por Ilha Concelho" (PDF). ine.cv.
  4. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  5. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950–2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision". Esa.un.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  8. ↑ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  9. ↑ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  10. ↑ "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "Relatório Estatístico". 31 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Server Error". microdata.worldbank.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Inquérito Demográfico e de Saúde Reprodutiva (IDSR-II)" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  15. ↑ Gonçalves, Rita; Alexandra Rosa; Ana Freitas; Ana Fernandes; Toomas Kivisild; Richard Villems; António Brehm (26 August 2003). "Y-chromosome lineages in Cabo Verde Islands witness the diverse geographic origin of its first male settlers". Human Genetics. 113 (6): 467–472. doi:10.1007/s00439-003-1007-4. hdl:10400.13/3047. PMID 12942365. S2CID 63381583.
  16. 1 2 "Africa :: CAPE VERDE". CIA The World Factbook. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021.
  17. ↑ Seminário sobre as Estatísticas da Cultura, Desporto e Lazer [Seminar about Culture, Sport and Leisure Statistics] (PDF) (Report) (in Portuguese). Instituto Nacional de Estatística. 2016. Retrieved 2025-04-07.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2008 ed.). CIA.

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