Yemen: People & Society#

Population27,392,779 (July 2016 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groupspredominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
LanguagesArabic (official)
note: a distinct Socotri language is widely used on Socotra Island and Archipelago; Mahri is still fairly widely spoken in eastern Yemen
ReligionsMuslim 99.1% (official; virtually all are citizens, an estimated 65% are Sunni and 35% are Shia), other 0.9% (includes Jewish, Baha'i, Hindu, and Christian; many are refugees or temporary foreign residents) (2010 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 40.48% (male 5,639,657/female 5,447,662)
15-24 years: 21.16% (male 2,940,484/female 2,855,538)
25-54 years: 31.79% (male 4,451,305/female 4,257,877)
55-64 years: 3.87% (male 487,986/female 571,676)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 342,053/female 398,541) (2016 est.)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 75.6%
youth dependency ratio: 70.7%
elderly dependency ratio: 4.9%
potential support ratio: 20.4% (2015 est.)
Median agetotal: 19.2 years
male: 19.1 years
female: 19.3 years (2016 est.)
Population growth rate2.37% (2016 est.)
Birth rate29.2 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Death rate6.1 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Net migration rate0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Population distributionthe vast majority of the population is found in the southern Sarawat Mountains, located in the far western region of the country
Urbanizationurban population: 34.6% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 4.03% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Major urban areas - populationSANAA (capital) 2.962 million; Aden 882,000 (2015)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.85 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth21.4
median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2013)
Maternal mortality rate385 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 47.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 51.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 43.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 65.5 years
male: 63.4 years
female: 67.8 years (2016 est.)
Total fertility rate3.77 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate27.7% (2006)
Health expenditures5.6% of GDP (2014)
Physicians density0.2 physicians/1,000 population (2010)
Hospital bed density0.7 beds/1,000 population (2012)
Drinking water sourceimproved:
urban: 72% of population
rural: 46.5% of population
total: 54.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 28% of population
rural: 53.5% of population
total: 45.1% of population (2012 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved:
urban: 92.5% of population
rural: 34.1% of population
total: 53.3% of population
unimproved:
urban: 7.5% of population
rural: 65.9% of population
total: 46.7% of population (2012 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.06% (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS9,200 (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths300 (2015 est.)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2016)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate14.2% (2014)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight39.9% (2013)
Education expenditures4.6% of GDP (2008)
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 70.1%
male: 85.1%
female: 55% (2015 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 9 years
male: 10 years
female: 8 years (2011)
Child labor - children ages 5-14total number: 1,334,288
percentage: 23% (2006 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24total: 33.7%
male: 26%
female: 74% (2010 est.)