How many people live in Chad right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
21,753,300
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Net migration | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 64 of 237
- Share of world population
- 0.26%
- Median age
- 15.7 years
- Children per woman
- 5.84
- Life expectancy
- 55.6 years
- People per km²
- 17
According to UN estimates, about 21.8 million people live in Chad right now. It ranks 64th out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Zambia and Kazakhstan, and it is home to one in every 383 people on the planet.
Every day, about 2,500 people are born there and about 650 die. More people leave than arrive: net migration reduces the population by about 112,000 people a year. Overall, the population grows by about 1,500 people a day (2.61% a year).
In 1950, about 2.5 million people lived there. Today there are 8.6 times as many. The UN expects it to keep growing for the rest of the century. By 2050 it is projected to have about 38.9 million people (79% more than today), and by 2100 about 69.5 million.
Half of its people are younger than 16 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 5.84 children each, above the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 56 years (worldwide, 74). There are 17 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of Chad in 2026?
- Chad has about 21.8 million people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 21,560,380.
- How many people are born each day in Chad?
- About 2,500 a day (910,000 a year). About 650 people die each day (236,000 a year).
- Is the population of Chad growing?
- Yes: it grows by 2.61% a year, or about 562,000 people.
- What will the population of Chad be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 38.9 million.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- Taiwan 22,978,634
- Malawi 22,967,868
- Zambia 22,715,476
- Kazakhstan 21,157,007
- Somalia 20,510,549
- Chile 19,971,250
More countries in Africa
- Nigeria 243,986,477
- Ethiopia 139,989,692
- Egypt 120,651,603
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 117,604,621
- Tanzania 73,204,123
- South Africa 65,670,827
- Kenya 58,985,528
- Sudan 53,735,131
- Uganda 53,195,582
- Algeria 48,206,596
- Angola 40,591,430
- Morocco 38,862,773
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.