Somalia Population Pyramid 1979
Year
1979Somalia in 1979
In 1979, Somalia had a total population of 5,449,116 people. A decade earlier, in 1969, the population was 3,641,016; it has grown by 49.7% since.
Half of the population was younger than 17.6 years; 44.5% were children under 15 and 3.3% were 65 or older. This is an expansive pyramid — each cohort of children is larger than the one above it, the signature of high birth rates and rapid growth.
Data source: United Nations World Population Prospects, 2024 revision (medium variant) — last updated July 2024.
In 2023 women in Somalia had on average 6.13 children, above the replacement level of 2.1.
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators, latest available year.
Life expectancy at birth was 58.8 years in 2023: 61.4 for women and 56.4 for men.
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators, latest available year.
46,692 immigrants live in Somalia, 0.2% of the population.
| Ethiopia | 28,964 |
| Yemen | 17,680 |
| Eritrea | 48 |
1,935,568 people born in Somalia live in other countries.
| Kenya | 401,953 |
| Ethiopia | 389,246 |
| Yemen | 285,211 |
| United Kingdom | 119,728 |
| Libya | 117,956 |
Source: United Nations International Migrant Stock 2024.
| Country | Population | Median age | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somalia | 5,449,117 | 17.6 | |
| Zambia | 5,631,728 | 15.3 | |
| Rwanda | 5,189,541 | 16.5 | |
| Malawi | 6,028,749 | 17.4 | |
| Zimbabwe | 6,647,557 | 15.6 |





