World Factbook
Solomon Islands
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
Melanesian pidgin (lingua franca in much of the country), English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population), 120 indigenous languages
Religions
Protestant 73.4% (Church of Melanesia 31.9%, South Sea Evangelical 17.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.7%, United Church 10.1%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.5%), Roman Catholic 19.6%, other Christian 2.9%, other 4%, unspecified 0.1% (2009 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.05 male(s)/female
total population
1.04 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.89 male(s)/female
Birth rate
21.57 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
3.94 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
25 years
total
25.5 years (2025 est.)
female
25.4 years
Population
male
377,067
total
738,774 (2025 est.)
female
361,707
Nationality
noun
Solomon Islander(s)
adjective
Solomon Islander
Tobacco use
male
54.5% (2025 est.)
total
36.8% (2025 est.)
female
18.8% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
26% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
3.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
30.6% (male 114,246/female 108,020)
15-64 years
64.2% (male 238,708/female 227,636)
65 years and over
5.3% (2024 est.) (male 18,016/female 20,173)
Ethnic groups
Melanesian 95.3%, Polynesian 3.1%, Micronesian 1.2%, other 0.3% (2009 est.)
Child marriage
men married by age 18
4.4% (2015)
women married by age 15
5.6% (2015)
women married by age 18
21.3% (2015)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
55.1 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
46.7 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
12 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
8.4 (2025 est.)
Physician density
0.24 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
4.8% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
9.7% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-1.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.72 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 59.4% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 73.1% of population
unimproved: rural
rural: 40.6% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
8.3% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
25.2% national budget (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
22.7 deaths/1,000 live births
total
18.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
15.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
1.62% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.33 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
most of the population lives along the coastal regions; about one in five live in urban areas, and of these about two thirds reside in Honiara, the largest town and chief port
Life expectancy at birth
male
74.6 years
female
80 years
total population
77.2 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
123 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 22.6% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 77.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 59.4% of population
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
1.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
1.19 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
82,000 HONIARA (capital) (2018)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
22.5% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
22.6 years (2015 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-29
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
64.5% (2019 est.)