World Factbook
Senegal
République du Sénégal
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
61.5% (2023 est.)
female
41.5% (2023 est.)
total population
50.4% (2023 est.)
Languages
French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke
Religions
Muslim 97.2% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 2.7% (mostly Roman Catholic) (2019 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.94 male(s)/female
total population
0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.76 male(s)/female
Birth rate
29.54 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
4.85 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
18.4 years
total
19.4 years (2025 est.)
female
20 years
Population
male
9,283,314
total
18,847,519 (2024 est.)
female
9,564,205
Nationality
noun
Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective
Senegalese
Tobacco use
male
10.5% (2025 est.)
total
5.4% (2025 est.)
female
0.5% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
49.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
40.7% (male 3,907,986/female 3,760,594)
15-64 years
55.9% (male 5,098,038/female 5,437,195)
65 years and over
3.4% (2024 est.) (male 277,290/female 366,416)
Ethnic groups
Wolof 39.7%, Pulaar 27.5%, Sereer 16%, Mandinka 4.9%, Jola 4.2%, Soninke 2.4%, other 5.4% (includes Europeans and persons of Lebanese descent) (2019 est.)
Child marriage
men married by age 18
0.7% (2019)
women married by age 15
8.8% (2019)
women married by age 18
30.5% (2019)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
78.9 (2024 est.)
youth dependency ratio
72.8 (2024 est.)
potential support ratio
16.4 (2024 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
6.1 (2024 est.)
Physician density
0.11 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
4.4% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
3.4% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
0.7 beds/1,000 population (2019 est.)
Total fertility rate
3.96 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 77% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 86.2% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 95.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 23% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 13.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 4.1% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
6.2% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
20.9% national budget (2025 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
34.4 deaths/1,000 live births
total
30.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
27.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
2.4% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.93 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural, as shown in this population distribution map
Life expectancy at birth
male
68.8 years
female
72.4 years
total population
70.6 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
237 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 60.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 77.4% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 95.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 39.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 22.6% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 4.7% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
3.340 million DAKAR (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
8.8% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
21.9 years (2019 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
65.5% (2023 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
16.2% (2023 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
8 years (2023 est.)
total
9 years (2023 est.)
female
10 years (2023 est.)