Demographics of Cameroon

A Tikar family in the Northwest Province

The demographic profile of Cameroon is complex for a country of its population. Cameroon comprises an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions:

• western highlanders (Semi-Bantu or grassfielders), including the Bamileke, Bamum (or Bamoun), and many smaller Tikar groups in the Northwest (est. 38% of total population);
• coastal tropical forest peoples, including the Bassa, Duala (or Douala), and many smaller groups in the Southwest (12%);
• southern tropical forest peoples, including the Beti-Pahuin, Bulu (a subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Fang (subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Maka, Njem, and Baka pygmies (18%);
• predominantly Islamic peoples of the northern semi-arid regions (the Sahel) and central highlands, including the Fulani (French: Peul or Peuhl; Fula: Fulɓe) (14%); and
• the "Kirdi", non-Islamic or recently Islamic peoples of the northern desert and central highlands (18%).

An up-to-date demographic profile is unavailable from the country's government, which hasn't published census data since 1976.

The Cameroon government held two national censuses during the country's first 44 years as an independent country, in 1976 and again in 1987. Results from the second head count were never published. A third census, expected to take years to produce results, began on November 11, 2005, with a three-week interviewing phase. It is one of a series of projects and reforms required by the International Monetary Fund as prerequisites for foreign debt relief.

Population

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 19 599 000 in 2010, compared to only 4 466 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.6%, 55.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.5% was 65 years or older .^[1]

	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	4 466	39.6	56.9	68.4
1955	4 901	40.1	56.4	3.5
1960	5 409	40.6	55.9	3.6
1965	6 049	41.5	54.9	3.6
1970	6 842	42.4	54.0	3.6
1975	7 838	43.6	52.7	3.7
1980	9 110	44.6	51.8	3.6
1985	10 519	45.2	51.2	3.6
1990	12 181	45.2	51.3	3.6
1995	13 940	44.4	52.1	3.5
2000	15 678	42.8	53.7	3.5
2005	17 554	41.6	54.9	3.5
2010	19 599	40.6	55.9	3.5

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Cameroon not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[1]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	203 000	117 000	86 000	43.4	24.9	18.5	5.68	169
1955-1960	222 000	120 000	102 000	43.0	23.3	19.7	5.68	158
1960-1965	252 000	124 000	128 000	44.0	21.6	22.3	5.90	145
1965-1970	287 000	130 000	157 000	44.6	20.1	24.5	6.10	133
1970-1975	332 000	136 000	196 000	45.2	18.3	26.8	6.30	120
1975-1980	382 000	143 000	239 000	45.1	16.5	28.6	6.40	108
1980-1985	439 000	143 000	296 000	44.7	15.0	29.7	6.40	98
1985-1990	487 000	148 000	339 000	42.9	14.1	28.9	6.10	93
1990-1995	536 000	172 000	364 000	41.0	14.0	27.0	5.70	94
1995-2000	563 000	204 000	359 000	38.0	14.6	23.5	5.10	96
2000-2005	632 000	243 000	389 000	38.0	15.3	22.7	4.92	97
2005-2010	691 000	270 000	421 000	37.2	15.0	22.2	4.67	94
* 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)

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[2]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1991	39	5,82 (5,17)		5,17 (4,52)		6,29 (5,66)
1998	37,4	5,2 (4,6)	31,5	3,9 (3,4)	40,1	5,8 (5,3)
2004	37,8	5,0 (4,5)	34,9	4,0 (3,7)	40,5	6,1 (5,6)
2011	38,1	5,1 (4,1)	34,6	4,0 (3,2)	41,3	6,4 (5,1)

Ethnic groups

Speakers of Makaa–Njem languages in Cameroon and neighbouring countries.

The ethnic groups of Cameroon who speak Duala languages.

• Cameroon Highlanders 31%
• Equatorial Bantu 19%
• Kirdi 11%
• Fulani 10%
• Northwestern Bantu 8%
• Eastern Nigritic 7%
• other African 13%
• non-African less than 1%

Languages

Linguistic survey of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin

There are 24 major African language groups in Cameroon; additionally, English and French are official languages. Cameroonian Pidgin English is also widely spoken.

Peoples concentrated in the Southwest and Northwest Provinces — around Buea and Bamenda — use standard English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, as well as their local languages. In the three northern provinces — Adamawa, North, and Far North — either French or Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani) is widely spoken. Elsewhere, French is the principal second language, although pidgin and some local languages such as Ewondo, the dialect of a Beti clan from the Yaoundé area, have a wide currency.

Indigenous languages of Cameroon include:

• Basaa
• Bikya
• Bung
• Kanuri
• Ngumba
• Yeni
• Bamum

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Estimated number of inhabitants (in thousands), based on 2005 data from the Food and Agriculture Organization.

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

19,294,149(2010 est.)

Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

Median age

total: 19.3 years

male: 19.2 years

female: 19.4 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate

3.129% (2013 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 58% of total population (2010)

Rate of urbanization: 3.3% annual rate of change (2010–15 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 54.04 years

male: 53.21 years

female: 54.9 years (2010 est.)

Total Fertility Rate

According to Cameroon government website, average children per woman was 5.0 in 2004.^[3]

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 5.1% (2007 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 540,000 (2007 est.)

Deaths: 39,000 (2007 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 370,000 (2010 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Degree of risk: very high

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

Vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever

Water contact disease: schistosomiasis

Respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis

Animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality

Noun: Cameroonian(s)

Adjective: Cameroonian

Religions

Indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 67.9% (2004 est.; source: UNDP 2006; NB- this figure is given without reference to which languages are considered)

Male: 77.0%

Female: 59.45

Education expenditure

3.3% of GDP (2006)

References

1. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
2. http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/dhs#_r=&collection=&country=&dtype=&from=1890&page=3&ps=&sk=&sort_by=nation&sort_order=&to=2014&topic=&view=s&vk=
3. http://www.statistics-cameroon.org/downloads/La_population_du_Cameroun_2010.pdf

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2008 edition".
• Cameroon Undertakes Nationwide Census, a November 2005 article from Voice of America
• UNDP. 2006. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (Cameroon http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_CMR.html )