Population growth in Rwanda
From 1960 to 2021 the population of Rwanda increased from 2.94 million to 13.28 million people. This is a growth by 352.3 percent in 61 years. The highest increase in Rwanda was recorded in 1998 with 8.46%. The biggest decrease in 1993 with -6.54%.In the same period, the total population of all countries worldwide increased by 158.5 percent.
The average age in Rwanda rose by 1.65 years from 2012 to 2020 from 18.05 to 19.70 years (median value).
Around 18% of the inhabitants live in the country's larger cities. This growing trend of urbanization is increasing by 3.3% annually.
› Population growth in worldwide comparison
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Population development in Rwanda since 1960
(Data in millions of inhabitants)| Year | Population Rwanda | Change | Birthrate | Deathrate | Population World | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.00 M | 2.14 % | 51.4 ‰ | 22.4 ‰ | 3,072 M | 1.30 % | |
| 1962 | 3.05 M | 1.82 % | 50.8 ‰ | 22.0 ‰ | 3,125 M | 1.72 % | |
| 1963 | 3.11 M | 1.72 % | 50.2 ‰ | 21.7 ‰ | 3,190 M | 2.08 % | |
| 1964 | 3.16 M | 1.89 % | 49.7 ‰ | 21.3 ‰ | 3,255 M | 2.05 % | |
| 1965 | 3.24 M | 2.25 % | 49.4 ‰ | 21.0 ‰ | 3,322 M | 2.06 % | |
| 1966 | 3.32 M | 2.66 % | 49.1 ‰ | 20.7 ‰ | 3,392 M | 2.11 % | |
| 1967 | 3.42 M | 2.99 % | 49.1 ‰ | 20.5 ‰ | 3,462 M | 2.05 % | |
| 1968 | 3.53 M | 3.18 % | 49.2 ‰ | 20.3 ‰ | 3,533 M | 2.06 % | |
| 1969 | 3.64 M | 3.21 % | 49.4 ‰ | 20.2 ‰ | 3,607 M | 2.09 % | |
| 1970 | 3.76 M | 3.13 % | 49.7 ‰ | 20.2 ‰ | 3,682 M | 2.09 % | |
| 1971 | 3.87 M | 3.04 % | 50.2 ‰ | 20.1 ‰ | 3,761 M | 2.13 % | |
| 1972 | 3.99 M | 2.99 % | 50.7 ‰ | 20.1 ‰ | 3,837 M | 2.03 % | |
| 1973 | 4.11 M | 2.99 % | 51.3 ‰ | 20.1 ‰ | 3,913 M | 1.98 % | |
| 1974 | 4.23 M | 3.05 % | 51.8 ‰ | 20.1 ‰ | 3,988 M | 1.93 % | |
| 1975 | 4.36 M | 3.15 % | 52.4 ‰ | 20.0 ‰ | 4,063 M | 1.86 % | |
| 1976 | 4.51 M | 3.24 % | 52.8 ‰ | 19.7 ‰ | 4,135 M | 1.80 % | |
| 1977 | 4.66 M | 3.31 % | 53.2 ‰ | 19.4 ‰ | 4,208 M | 1.75 % | |
| 1978 | 4.81 M | 3.38 % | 53.5 ‰ | 18.9 ‰ | 4,281 M | 1.75 % | |
| 1979 | 4.98 M | 3.45 % | 53.7 ‰ | 18.3 ‰ | 4,357 M | 1.76 % | |
| 1980 | 5.15 M | 3.50 % | 53.7 ‰ | 17.6 ‰ | 4,433 M | 1.75 % | |
| 1981 | 5.33 M | 3.41 % | 53.6 ‰ | 16.7 ‰ | 4,511 M | 1.76 % | |
| 1982 | 5.50 M | 3.29 % | 53.4 ‰ | 15.7 ‰ | 4,592 M | 1.80 % | |
| 1983 | 5.69 M | 3.38 % | 53.0 ‰ | 14.8 ‰ | 4,674 M | 1.78 % | |
| 1984 | 5.90 M | 3.72 % | 52.5 ‰ | 14.0 ‰ | 4,756 M | 1.75 % | |
| 1985 | 6.15 M | 4.13 % | 51.8 ‰ | 14.0 ‰ | 4,839 M | 1.75 % | |
| 1986 | 6.44 M | 4.83 % | 51.1 ‰ | 15.5 ‰ | 4,925 M | 1.77 % | |
| 1987 | 6.78 M | 5.22 % | 50.2 ‰ | 18.5 ‰ | 5,013 M | 1.78 % | |
| 1988 | 7.09 M | 4.55 % | 49.3 ‰ | 23.0 ‰ | 5,101 M | 1.77 % | |
| 1989 | 7.28 M | 2.66 % | 48.3 ‰ | 28.5 ‰ | 5,190 M | 1.74 % | |
| 1990 | 7.29 M | 0.16 % | 47.3 ‰ | 34.2 ‰ | 5,280 M | 1.74 % | |
| 1991 | 7.08 M | -2.81 % | 46.3 ‰ | 38.7 ‰ | 5,368 M | 1.67 % | |
| 1992 | 6.70 M | -5.39 % | 45.4 ‰ | 41.3 ‰ | 5,453 M | 1.57 % | |
| 1993 | 6.26 M | -6.54 % | 44.6 ‰ | 41.4 ‰ | 5,538 M | 1.56 % | |
| 1994 | 5.94 M | -5.23 % | 43.8 ‰ | 38.9 ‰ | 5,622 M | 1.52 % | |
| 1995 | 5.84 M | -1.68 % | 43.1 ‰ | 34.4 ‰ | 5,707 M | 1.51 % | |
| 1996 | 6.01 M | 3.03 % | 42.4 ‰ | 28.9 ‰ | 5,790 M | 1.45 % | |
| 1997 | 6.42 M | 6.76 % | 41.7 ‰ | 23.4 ‰ | 5,872 M | 1.43 % | |
| 1998 | 6.96 M | 8.46 % | 41.0 ‰ | 18.9 ‰ | 5,954 M | 1.39 % | |
| 1999 | 7.50 M | 7.73 % | 40.4 ‰ | 15.7 ‰ | 6,034 M | 1.35 % | |
| 2000 | 7.93 M | 5.77 % | 39.7 ‰ | 14.0 ‰ | 6,114 M | 1.32 % | |
| 2001 | 8.23 M | 3.75 % | 39.0 ‰ | 13.4 ‰ | 6,194 M | 1.30 % | |
| 2002 | 8.43 M | 2.38 % | 38.4 ‰ | 13.2 ‰ | 6,273 M | 1.28 % | |
| 2003 | 8.56 M | 1.54 % | 37.9 ‰ | 13.0 ‰ | 6,352 M | 1.26 % | |
| 2004 | 8.68 M | 1.44 % | 37.4 ‰ | 12.5 ‰ | 6,432 M | 1.25 % | |
| 2005 | 8.84 M | 1.84 % | 37.0 ‰ | 11.8 ‰ | 6,512 M | 1.25 % | |
| 2006 | 9.04 M | 2.30 % | 36.6 ‰ | 10.8 ‰ | 6,593 M | 1.24 % | |
| 2007 | 9.27 M | 2.55 % | 36.2 ‰ | 9.8 ‰ | 6,674 M | 1.24 % | |
| 2008 | 9.52 M | 2.70 % | 35.7 ‰ | 8.8 ‰ | 6,757 M | 1.24 % | |
| 2009 | 9.78 M | 2.71 % | 35.1 ‰ | 8.0 ‰ | 6,840 M | 1.22 % | |
| 2010 | 10.04 M | 2.62 % | 34.6 ‰ | 7.3 ‰ | 6,922 M | 1.20 % | |
| 2011 | 10.29 M | 2.53 % | 34.0 ‰ | 6.8 ‰ | 7,004 M | 1.18 % | |
| 2012 | 10.55 M | 2.49 % | 33.6 ‰ | 6.4 ‰ | 7,089 M | 1.22 % | |
| 2013 | 10.81 M | 2.48 % | 33.2 ‰ | 6.1 ‰ | 7,176 M | 1.22 % | |
| 2014 | 11.08 M | 2.52 % | 32.9 ‰ | 5.8 ‰ | 7,262 M | 1.20 % | |
| 2015 | 11.37 M | 2.58 % | 32.6 ‰ | 5.6 ‰ | 7,348 M | 1.18 % | |
| 2016 | 11.67 M | 2.64 % | 32.4 ‰ | 5.4 ‰ | 7,434 M | 1.17 % | |
| 2017 | 11.98 M | 2.67 % | 32.1 ‰ | 5.3 ‰ | 7,519 M | 1.15 % | |
| 2018 | 12.30 M | 2.68 % | 31.7 ‰ | 5.2 ‰ | 7,603 M | 1.11 % | |
| 2019 | 12.63 M | 2.64 % | 31.2 ‰ | 5.1 ‰ | 7,684 M | 1.07 % | |
| 2020 | 12.95 M | 2.58 % | 30.7 ‰ | 5.0 ‰ | 7,764 M | 1.04 % | |
| 2021 | 13.28 M | 2.50 % | 7,837 M | 0.94 % |
Birth- and deathrate in Rwanda
Population growth is the result of the birth rate, the mortality rate and the migration rate. The example of the year 2020 in the graph: The population in Rwanda increased by about 325,000 inhabitants. In the same year, the death rate was 5.0 per 1000 people (~ 63,700 deaths) and the birth rate was 30.7 per 1000 people (~ 388,000 births). As a result, around 700 inhabitants have to be added by migration from other countries.Over the past 10 years, the number of average deaths per year was 65,182 in Rwanda. The number of births was 374,213 annually.
The development of births and deaths is displayed in the following graph. All data refer to births or deaths per 1000 inhabitants.
Birthrate Deathrate
Comparison of the global population density
Quality of life in country comparison