World Factbook
Syria
Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
97.2% (2021 est.)
female
91.8% (2021 est.)
total population
94.4% (2021 est.)
Languages
Languages
Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English
major-language sample(s)
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic) ڕاستییەکانی جیهان، باشترین سەرچاوەیە بۆ زانیارییە بنەڕەتییەکان (Kurdish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%
note: the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war
Sex ratio
at birth
1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.99 male(s)/female
total population
1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.88 male(s)/female
Birth rate
21.26 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
3.97 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
23.6 years
total
24.5 years (2025 est.)
female
24.7 years
Population
male
12,183,128
total
24,261,882 (2025 est.)
female
12,078,754
Nationality
noun
Syrian(s)
adjective
Syrian
Urbanization
urban population
57.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
5.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
33% (male 4,037,493/female 3,828,777)
15-64 years
62.8% (male 7,475,355/female 7,522,797)
65 years and over
4.2% (2024 est.) (male 468,730/female 532,271)
Ethnic groups
Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
58.1 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
51.2 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
14.5 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
6.9 (2025 est.)
Physician density
1.52 physicians/1,000 population (2021)
Health expenditure
7.8% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
1.4 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.64 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 92.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 94.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 95.6% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 7.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 5.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 4.4% of population (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
16.6 deaths/1,000 live births
total
14.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
13.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
1.63% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.28 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley
note: the recent civil war has altered the population distribution
Life expectancy at birth
male
73.4 years
female
76.4 years
total population
74.8 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
20 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 99.3% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 99.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0.7% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
0.13 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.11 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
2.585 million DAMASCUS (capital), 2.203 million Aleppo, 1.443 million Hims (Homs), 996,000 Hamah (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
27.8% (2016)