Demographics of Chad

The people of Chad speak more than 100 languages and divide themselves into many ethnic groups. However, language and ethnicity are not the same. Moreover, neither element can be tied to a particular physical type.

Demographics of Chad
Population pyramid of Chad in 2020
Population	17,963,211 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	3.09% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	40.45 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	9.45 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	53.00 years
• male	51.30 years
• female	54.77 years
Fertility rate	5.46 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	65.48 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	47.43%
65 and over	2.43%
Sex ratio
Total	0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.04 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.02 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.69 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Chadian
Language
Official	French, Arabic

Demographics of Chad, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022; Number of inhabitants in millions.

Although the possession of a common language shows that its speakers have lived together and have a common history, peoples also change languages. This is particularly so in Chad, where the openness of the terrain, marginal rainfall, frequent drought and famine, and low population densities have encouraged physical and linguistic mobility. Slave raids among non-Muslim peoples, internal slave trade, and exports of captives northward from the ninth to the twentieth centuries also have resulted in language changes.

Anthropologists view ethnicity as being more than genetics. Like language, ethnicity implies a shared heritage, partly economic, where people of the same ethnic group may share a livelihood, and partly social, taking the form of shared ways of doing things and organizing relations among individuals and groups. Ethnicity also involves a cultural component made up of shared values and a common worldview. Like language, ethnicity is not immutable. Shared ways of doing things change over time and alter a group's perception of its own identity.

Not only do the social aspects of ethnic identity change but the biological composition (or gene pool) also may change over time. Although most ethnic groups emphasize intermarriage, people are often proscribed from seeking partners among close relatives—a prohibition that promotes biological variation. In all groups, the departure of some individuals or groups and the integration of others also changes the biological component.

The Chadian government has avoided official recognition of ethnicity. With the exception of a few surveys conducted shortly after independence, little data were available on this important aspect of Chadian society. Nonetheless, ethnic identity was a significant component of life in Chad.

The peoples of Chad carry significant ancestry from Eastern, Central, Western, and Northern Africa.

Chad's languages fall into ten major groups, each of which belongs to either the Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, or Niger–Congo language family. These represent three of the four major language families in Africa; only the Khoisan languages of southern Africa are not represented. The presence of such different languages suggests that the Lake Chad Basin may have been an important point of dispersal in ancient times.

Population

A tribal delegation in Chad

People of Chad

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 17,179,740 in 2021, compared to only 2 429 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 45.4%, 51.7% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.9% was 65 years or the country is projected to have a population of 34 millions peoples in 2050 and 61 millions peoples in 2100 .

Year	Total population	Population percentage in age bracket
		aged 0–14	aged 15–64	aged 65+
1950	2 429 000	37.8%	57.8%	4.4%
1955	2 671 000	39.1%	56.8%	4.1%
1960	2 954 000	40.3%	55.9%	3.8%
1965	3 289 000	41.5%	54.7%	3.8%
1970	3 656 000	42.0%	54.2%	3.8%
1975	4 114 000	42.8%	53.4%	3.8%
1980	4 554 000	44.0%	52.3%	3.7%
1985	5 151 000	45.2%	51.2%	3.6%
1990	6 011 000	45.8%	50.7%	3.5%
1995	6 998 000	45.9%	50.8%	3.3%
2000	8 222 000	45.9%	51.0%	3.1%
2005	9 786 000	45.8%	51.2%	3.0%
2010	11 227 000	45.4%	51.7%	2.9%

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 20.V.2009):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 452 483	5 587 390	11 039 873	100
0–4	1 129 693	1 100 985	2 230 678	20.21
5–9	1 012 471	987 297	1 999 768	18.11
10–14	700 015	650 633	1 350 648	12.23
15–19	502 894	557 494	1 060 388	9.61
20–24	382 122	482 768	864 890	7.83
25–29	320 063	433 622	753 685	6.83
30–34	277 322	335 402	612 724	5.55
35–39	241 971	260 515	502 485	4.55
40–44	215 887	214 181	430 068	3.90
45–49	163 952	139 357	303 308	2.75
50–54	147 725	133 019	280 744	2.54
55–59	84 938	62 817	147 755	1.34
60–64	92 696	85 024	177 720	1.61
65–69	48 054	37 398	85 452	0.77
70–74	56 059	49 289	105 348	0.95
75–79	24 148	17 371	41 518	0.38
80–84	24 947	21 486	46 433	0.42
85–89	9 086	5 833	14 919	0.14
90–94	6 852	5 465	12 317	0.11
95–99	5 113	3 609	8 722	0.08
100+	1 323	1 200	2 523	0.02
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	2 842 179	2 738 915	5 581 094	50.55
15–64	2 429 569	2 704 199	5 133 768	46.50
65+	175 582	141 651	317 233	2.87
Unknown	5 153	2 625	7 778	0.07

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Chad not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR	CDR	NC	TFR	IMR	Life expectancy (years)
1950	117,000	70,000	47,000	46.7	27.8	18.9	6.06	197.6	36.21
1951	119,000	72,000	47,000	46.5	28.1	18.4	6.07	196.5	36.34
1952	121,000	73,000	48,000	46.4	28.1	18.3	6.09	194.4	36.50
1953	123,000	74,000	49,000	46.4	27.9	18.5	6.11	192.3	36.84
1954	125,000	75,000	50,000	46.3	27.7	18.5	6.13	190.3	37.03
1955	127,000	76,000	51,000	46.2	27.6	18.6	6.15	188.3	37.21
1956	130,000	77,000	53,000	46.1	27.3	18.8	6.17	186.3	37.45
1957	132,000	78,000	54,000	46.0	27.1	18.9	6.19	184.3	37.66
1958	134,000	78,000	56,000	45.9	26.8	19.1	6.21	182.3	37.94
1959	136,000	79,000	57,000	45.9	26.5	19.3	6.23	180.3	38.19
1960	139,000	80,000	59,000	45.7	26.3	19.4	6.25	178.4	38.37
1961	141,000	80,000	61,000	45.7	26.0	19.6	6.27	176.5	38.63
1962	144,000	81,000	62,000	45.6	25.8	19.8	6.29	174.6	38.84
1963	146,000	82,000	64,000	45.5	25.6	19.9	6.30	172.8	39.07
1964	149,000	83,000	66,000	45.4	25.3	20.2	6.32	171.0	39.33
1965	152,000	85,000	67,000	45.4	25.4	20.0	6.34	169.7	39.12
1966	155,000	86,000	69,000	45.4	25.3	20.2	6.36	166.8	39.15
1967	158,000	87,000	71,000	45.6	25.0	20.6	6.39	164.2	39.48
1968	162,000	87,000	75,000	45.8	24.6	21.2	6.43	161.3	39.90
1969	166,000	88,000	79,000	46.2	24.3	21.9	6.48	158.3	40.27
1970	172,000	88,000	83,000	46.7	24.1	22.6	6.53	155.2	40.60
1971	177,000	92,000	85,000	47.2	24.4	22.7	6.58	153.5	40.19
1972	188,000	90,000	97,000	49.0	23.6	25.4	6.85	149.1	41.40
1973	192,000	92,000	100,000	49.0	23.5	25.5	6.87	148.7	41.78
1974	196,000	94,000	102,000	48.8	23.5	25.4	6.86	147.8	41.79
1975	200,000	96,000	104,000	48.7	23.4	25.4	6.88	147.0	41.87
1976	203,000	97,000	107,000	48.6	23.1	25.5	6.89	145.5	42.04
1977	206,000	98,000	109,000	48.4	22.9	25.5	6.90	144.6	42.26
1978	209,000	98,000	111,000	48.2	22.7	25.5	6.89	143.6	42.50
1979	212,000	99,000	113,000	48.1	22.4	25.7	6.91	142.6	42.81
1980	218,000	100,000	118,000	48.2	22.1	26.1	6.91	141.4	43.06
1981	205,000	97,000	108,000	46.3	21.9	24.5	6.94	141.0	43.31
1982	212,000	97,000	115,000	46.9	21.4	25.5	6.96	139.5	43.73
1983	242,000	102,000	140,000	49.8	21.1	28.8	6.98	138.0	44.18
1984	252,000	105,000	147,000	50.4	21.0	29.4	7.02	136.2	44.52
1985	245,000	103,000	142,000	49.3	20.7	28.5	7.04	135.0	45.05
1986	252,000	104,000	148,000	49.4	20.4	28.9	7.07	132.1	45.21
1987	268,000	116,000	153,000	50.7	21.8	28.8	7.11	130.4	42.80
1988	283,000	110,000	173,000	51.7	20.2	31.5	7.15	128.9	45.79
1989	295,000	114,000	182,000	52.1	20.1	32.0	7.19	127.0	45.88
1990	307,000	121,000	185,000	52.4	20.7	31.6	7.22	125.3	44.69
1991	312,000	120,000	192,000	52.1	20.0	32.0	7.26	124.2	45.94
1992	336,000	125,000	211,000	53.3	19.9	33.4	7.30	122.5	46.10
1993	349,000	129,000	221,000	53.5	19.7	33.8	7.34	120.9	46.32
1994	343,000	129,000	214,000	52.1	19.5	32.5	7.31	119.6	46.45
1995	355,000	131,000	224,000	52.1	19.2	32.9	7.29	118.2	46.71
1996	381,000	136,000	245,000	53.0	18.9	34.0	7.29	117.0	47.01
1997	390,000	139,000	251,000	52.4	18.7	33.7	7.27	115.6	47.22
1998	403,000	143,000	260,000	52.2	18.5	33.7	7.27	114.0	47.22
1999	413,000	146,000	267,000	51.7	18.3	33.4	7.26	112.4	47.37
2000	424,000	149,000	275,000	51.3	18.1	33.2	7.25	110.7	47.44
2001	436,000	151,000	285,000	51.1	17.7	33.4	7.23	108.8	47.85
2002	444,000	154,000	290,000	50.3	17.4	32.9	7.20	106.8	47.95
2003	457,000	157,000	300,000	49.9	17.1	32.8	7.18	105.1	48.21
2004	481,000	162,000	318,000	50.3	17.0	33.3	7.16	103.4	48.23
2005	503,000	168,000	335,000	50.3	16.8	33.5	7.13	101.5	48.31
2006	517,000	173,000	344,000	49.9	16.7	33.2	7.12	99.7	48.29
2007	533,000	175,000	359,000	49.7	16.3	33.4	7.09	97.5	48.75
2008	546,000	177,000	368,000	49.2	16.0	33.2	7.06	95.4	49.02
2009	562,000	181,000	381,000	48.9	15.8	33.2	7.02	93.2	49.20
2010	580,000	183,000	397,000	48.8	15.4	33.3	6.99	91.1	49.58
2011	595,000	185,000	410,000	48.4	15.1	33.3	6.95	88.9	50.01
2012	612,000	187,000	426,000	48.0	14.6	33.4	6.91	86.6	50.54
2013	626,000	190,000	437,000	47.5	14.4	33.1	6.84	84.5	50.78
2014	643,000	192,000	451,000	47.0	14.0	33.0	6.78	82.6	51.20
2015	657,000	194,000	463,000	46.4	13.7	32.7	6.71	80.6	51.59
2016	663,000	194,000	469,000	45.5	13.3	32.2	6.62	78.5	52.08
2017	676,000	197,000	479,000	44.8	13.0	31.8	6.54	76.3	52.31
2018	691,000	197,000	494,000	44.4	12.7	31.7	6.46	74.2	52.83
2019	714,000	200,000	514,000	44.2	12.4	31.9	6.41	72.2	53.26
2020	730,000	208,000	522,000	43.8	12.5	31.4	6.35	70.2	52.78
2021	745,000	215,000	530,000	43.4	12.5	30.9	6.26	68.2	52.53

Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022

Fertility and births

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

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
1996–97	47,8	6,6 (6,3)	44,4	6,1 (5,7)	48,8	6,8 (6,5)
2004	44,6	6,3 (6,1)	41,8	5,7 (5,5)	45,3	6,5 (6,2)
2014–15	40,5	6,4 (6,1)	36,0	5,4 (5,1)	41,8	6,8 (6,5)

Fertility data as of 2014-2015 (DHS Program):

Region	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49
Batha	7.3	12.2	8.3
Borkou, Tibesti	5.3	9.6	6.4
Chari Baguirmi	6.6	16.1	7.7
Guéra	6.7	14.6	8.4
Hadjer-Lamis	6.8	14.5	8.4
Kanem	6.0	14.8	7.1
Lac	5.4	14.7	7.9
Logone Occidental	6.4	12.7	7.6
Logone Oriental	7.6	12.7	8.3
Mandoul	6.5	12.7	7.7
Mayo Kebbi Est	6.7	15.0	7.3
Mayo Kebbi Ouest	7.5	13.8	7.9
Moyen Chari	5.5	12.6	6.8
Ouaddaï	6.1	13.1	7.1
Salamat	6.5	19.7	8.0
Tandjilé	7.1	13.1	8.0
Wadi Fira	5.9	12.2	6.5
N’Djaména	5.2	9.4	6.5
Barh El Gazal	5.6	14.5	7.1
Ennedi Est, Ennedi Ouest	5.0	13.4	6.3
Sila	6.7	19.6	7.7

Religions

Main article: Religion in Chad

The separation of religion from social structure in Chad represents a false dichotomy, for they are perceived as two sides of the same coin. Three religious traditions coexist in Chad- classical African religions, Islam, and Christianity. None is monolithic. The first tradition includes a variety of ancestor and/or place-oriented religions whose expression is highly specific. Islam, although characterized by an orthodox set of beliefs and observances, also is expressed in diverse ways. Christianity arrived in Chad much more recently with the arrival of Europeans. Its followers are divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants (including several denominations); as with Chadian Islam, Chadian Christianity retains aspects of pre-Christian religious belief.

The number of followers of each tradition in Chad is unknown. Estimates made in 1962 suggested that 35 percent of Chadians practiced classical African religions, 55 percent were Muslims, and 10 percent were Christians. In the 1970s and 1980s, this distribution undoubtedly changed. Observers report that Islam has spread among the Hadjarai peoples and other non-Muslim populations of the Saharan and sahelian zones. However, the proportion of Muslims may have fallen, because the birthrate among the followers of traditional religions and Christians in southern Chad is thought to be higher than that among Muslims. In addition, the upheavals since the mid-1970s have resulted in the departure of some missionaries; whether or not Chadian Christians have been numerous enough and sufficiently organized to attract more converts since that time is unknown.

Other demographic statistics

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

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

• One birth every 45 seconds
• One death every 3 minutes
• One net migrant every 1440 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 1 minutes

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

17,963,211 (2022 est.)

15,833,116 (July 2018 est.)

12,075,985 (2017 est.)

Religions

Muslim 52.1%, Protestant 23.9%, Roman Catholic 20%, animist 0.3%, other Christian 0.2%, none 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2014-15 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Chad in 2020

0-14 years: 47.43% (male 4,050,505/female 3,954,413)

15-24 years: 19.77% (male 1,676,495/female 1,660,417)

25-54 years: 27.14% (male 2,208,181/female 2,371,490)

55-64 years: 3.24% (male 239,634/female 306,477)

65 years and over: 2.43% (2020 est.) (male 176,658/female 233,087)

0-14 years: 48.12% (male 3,856,001 /female 3,763,622)

15-24 years: 19.27% (male 1,532,687 /female 1,518,940)

25-54 years: 26.95% (male 2,044,795 /female 2,222,751)

55-64 years: 3.25% (male 228,930 /female 286,379)

65 years and over: 2.39% (male 164,257 /female 214,754) (2018 est.)

Median age

total: 16.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 223rd

male: 15.6 years

female: 16.5 years (2020 est.)

total: 15.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 226th

male: 15.3 years

female: 16.3 years (2018 est.)

Total: 17.8 years

Male: 16.8 years

Female: 18.8 years (2017 est.)

Population growth rate

3.09% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 10th

3.23% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 5th

Birth rate

40.45 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 6th

43 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 4th

Death rate

9.45 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 49th

10.5 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 26th

Net migration rate

-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 105th

-3.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 176th

Total fertility rate

5.35 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 6th

5.46 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 5th

5.9 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 4th

Mother's mean age at first birth

18.1 years (2014/15 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 25-49

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 100.2 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 95.2 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 4.9 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 20.3 (2015 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

8.1% (2019)

5.7% (2014/15)

Urbanization

urban population: 24.1% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 4.1% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 23.1% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 3.88% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.04 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 59.15 years. Country comparison to the world: 222nd

male: 57.32 years

female: 61.06 years (2022 est.)

total population: 57.5 years (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 214th

male: 55.7 years (2018 est.)

female: 59.3 years (2018 est.)

Total population: 50.6 years

Male: 49.4 years

Female: 51.9 years (2017 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 1.3% (2017 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 110,000(2017 est.)

Deaths: 3,100 (2017 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

28.8% (2015)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

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

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Chad 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

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 24.2% (2019)

women married by age 18: 60.6% (2019)

men married by age 18: 8.1% (2019 est.)

Nationality

Noun: Chadian(s)

Adjective: Chadian

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Chad

The peoples of Chad carry significant ancestry from Eastern, Central, Western, and Northern Africa.

200 distinct groups

• In the north and center: Arabs, Tubu (Daza, Teda), Zaghawa, Kanembu, Wadai, Baguirmi, Hadjarai, Fulani, Kotoko, Hausa, Bulala, and Maba, most of whom are Muslim
• In the south: Sara (Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye), Mundang, Mussei, Massa, most of whom are Christian or animist

Religions

• Islam 51.8%
• Roman Catholic 20.3%
• Protestant 23.5%
• Animist 0.6%
• Other Christians 0.3%
• Unknown 0.6%
• None 2.9%

Languages

Main article: Languages of Chad

Arabic (official), French (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 languages and dialects

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write French or Arabic

total population: 22.3% (2016 est.)

male: 31.3% (2016 est.)

female: 14% (2016 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 7 years

male: 9 years

female: 6 years (2015)

total: 8 years (2014)

male: 9 years (2014)

female: 6 years (2014)

References

• ""U.S. Census Bureau." Census Bureau Home Page". census.gov. 29 January 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2017.

Attribution:  This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2006 edition.)