In 2023, the population of Senegal is estimated at 18 million 32 thousand 473 inhabitants. A population marked, for the first time, by a predominance of men (50.6%) compared to women (49.4%).

The National Agency for Statistics and Demography (Ansd) on Tuesday published the preliminary results of the 5th General Population and Housing Census (Rgph5) which show “18 million 32 thousand 473 inhabitants residing in Senegal”. The population stood at 13 million 508 thousand 715 inhabitants in 2013, representing an average annual intercensal growth rate of 2.9%. 

“It is a population which is, for the first time, marked by an overall sex ratio of 102.6 men per 100 women, which means that there are more men than women, i.e. a rate of 50.6% men compared to 49.4% women,” notes the Director General of Ansd, Aboubacar Sédikh Bèye, who presented the preliminary results. He promised to come to explain the reasons for this shift later.

This population is also marked “by its youth, with a median age of 19 years. 75% of the population is under 35 years old.

Unevenly distributed in space, the highest human concentrations are observed in the west of the country, the centre and the northwest, while the east and northeast remain sparsely populated. “The Dakar-Thiès-Diourbel axis concentrates more than 46% of the population,” underlined Bèye.

The report notes, the population density, initially at 65 inhabitants/km² in 2013, “has increased to 92 inhabitants per km² in 2023. The Dakar region stands out from the others with a density of 7,277 inhabitants/km². However, the regions of Diourbel with 428 inhabitants/km2, Thiès 375 inhabitants/km2 and Kaolack 252 inhabitants/km2, are also characterized by fairly high population densities per square kilometer. The Kédougou region is the least populated with a density of 15 people/km².

The average size of households is estimated at 9 individuals per household, with a dependency ratio which goes from 83% to 75%,” informed the Ansd CEO.

As another salient point of this operation to count the inhabitants living in Senegal, it is the department of Mbacké which becomes the most populated department, ahead of Dakar, with respectively 1 million 359 thousand 757 and 1,182,416 inhabitants.

Furthermore, Mbour, which now has 937,189 inhabitants, becomes the third department, followed by the department of Rufisque, recording 822,105 inhabitants, which experienced a sharp increase, of 68%, in its population between 2013 and 2023. On the other hand, the least inhabited departments are Salémata, which has only 28,111 inhabitants, Oussouye 52,883 inhabitants, Saraya 92,912 inhabitants and Ranérou 3283 inhabitants.

In Senegal, the number of households in 2023 is 1,991,012 ordinary households and 14,408 collective households. Dakar and Diourbel bring together the majority of collective households with 2443 and 2349 respectively.

Mbacké, the most populated department

The average household size is estimated at 9 individuals per household in 2023. It is smaller in Dakar with 6 people. On the other hand, in the regions of Tambacounda, Sédhiou, Matam, Kaolack and Kaffrine, we find average sizes of 12 individuals per household. In Kolda, Kaolack, Diourbel, it is 11 individuals, while in Fatick, it is 10 people per household.

In 2023, 908,628 households engaged in agricultural activity were counted, or 45.6% of households in Senegal. The practice of agricultural activity is more frequent in the regions of Thiès, Dakar, Louga and Saint-Louis, followed by Diourbel and Kaolack to a lesser extent. Agricultural activity in the broad sense is less practiced in the regions of Kédougou, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor.

A household has an agricultural activity if at least one of its members practices an agricultural activity in the broad sense (rainfed cultivation, irrigated cultivation, flood recession cultivation, lowland cultivation, market gardening, etc.), for his own account or on behalf of the household, without being employed there during the last 12 months.

Financed to the tune of 23 billion CFA francs, Rgph5 was carried out in the period from May 15 to June 24, 2023, with a coverage rate of 96.2%, with an omission rate of 3.8%.