Page last updated on June 20, 2014

Nationality:
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese

Ethnic groups:
Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%

Languages:
French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka

Religions:
Muslim 94% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic), indigenous beliefs 1%

Population:
13,635,927 (July 2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 73
[see also: Population country ranks ]

Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.5% (male 2,908,431/female 2,880,258)
15-24 years: 20.5% (male 1,388,530/female 1,401,109)
25-54 years: 30.4% (male 1,892,403/female 2,253,576)
55-64 years: 3.8% (male 225,942/female 289,920)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 179,444/female 216,314) (2014 est.)
population pyramid:

Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 86.5 %
youth dependency ratio: 81 %
elderly dependency ratio: 5.5 %
potential support ratio: 18.2 (2014 est.)

Median age:
total: 18.4 years
male: 17.5 years
female: 19.3 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.48% (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]

Birth rate:
35.09 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 25
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]

Death rate:
8.65 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 74
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]

Net migration rate:
-1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 159
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]

Urbanization:
urban population: 42.5% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization: 3.32% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas - population:
DAKAR (capital) 3.035 million (2011)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.84 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth:
21.4
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2010-11 est.)
[see also: Mother's mean age at first birth country ranks ]

Maternal mortality rate:
370 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
country comparison to the world: 28
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]

Infant mortality rate:
total: 52.72 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 35
male: 58.91 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 46.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 60.95 years
country comparison to the world: 192
male: 58.94 years
female: 63.02 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate:
4.52 children born/woman (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 29
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]

Contraceptive prevalence rate:
13.1% (2010/11)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]

Health expenditures:
6% of GDP (2011)
country comparison to the world: 107
[see also: Health expenditures country ranks ]

Physicians density:
0.06 physicians/1,000 population (2008)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]

Hospital bed density:
0.3 beds/1,000 population (2008)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]

Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 92.5% of population
rural: 60.3% of population
total: 74.1% of population
unimproved:
urban: 7.5% of population
rural: 39.7% of population
total: 25.9% of population (2012 est.)

Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 67.1% of population
rural: 40.5% of population
total: 51.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 32.9% of population
rural: 59.5% of population
total: 48.1% of population (2012 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.5% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 68
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
42,800 (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 64
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,900 (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 60
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies (2013)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
6.8% (2008)
country comparison to the world: 145
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]

Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
14.4% (2012)
country comparison to the world: 51
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]

Education expenditures:
5.6% of GDP (2010)
country comparison to the world: 53
[see also: Education expenditures - percent of GDP country ranks ]

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 49.7%
male: 61.8%
female: 38.7% (2009 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 8 years
male: 8 years
female: 8 years (2010)

Child labor - children ages 5-14:
total number: 657,216
percentage: 22 % (2005 est.)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 14.8%
country comparison to the world: 83
male: 11.9%
female: 20.1% (2006)