Ethiopia Population

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and one of its fastest-growing, driven by a fertility rate that, while falling, remains high. The population is overwhelmingly young and still largely rural, with rapid urbanisation only beginning. How quickly fertility continues to drop will determine whether Ethiopia's youthful numbers become an economic asset or a strain on land and services.

With roughly 137 million people as of 2026, Ethiopia ranks 10th in the world by population. Set in Eastern Africa, its demographic path this century turns on the balance of births, deaths and migration. It packs in roughly 139 people per square kilometre.

Growth continues for Ethiopia until around 2100, the year its population is set to crest at about 366 million. From there a slow fall takes it to roughly 366 million by century's end. The 200 million threshold is reached around 2044.

With about 3.91 births per woman, Ethiopia still has one of the higher fertility rates in the world, driving fast expansion.

The median age is set to climb from about 19 today to roughly 37 by 2100, while life expectancy, near 68 years, keeps rising. For now it remains one of the world's youngest populations, with a large generation about to reach working age. That ageing slowly changes everything from the size of the workforce to the cost of care and pensions.

All of this is a projection, not a prediction. The further out it runs the wider the plausible range becomes, which is why Ethiopia's charts show a low-to-high band around the central line.