How many people live in Ethiopia right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
139,989,177
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 10 of 237
- Share of world population
- 1.68%
- Median age
- 19.3 years
- Children per woman
- 3.72
- Life expectancy
- 68.1 years
- People per km²
- 139
According to UN estimates, about 140 million people live in Ethiopia right now. It ranks 10th out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Russia and Mexico, and it is home to one in every 59 people on the planet.
Every day, about 11,500 people are born there and about 2,200 die. Overall, the population grows by about 9,400 people a day (2.48% a year).
In 1950, about 17.7 million people lived there. Today there are 7.9 times as many. The UN expects it to keep growing for the rest of the century. By 2050 it is projected to have about 225 million people (61% more than today), and by 2100 about 367 million.
Half of its people are younger than 19 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 3.72 children each, above the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 68 years (worldwide, 74). There are 139 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of Ethiopia in 2026?
- Ethiopia has about 140 million people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 138,902,185.
- How many people are born each day in Ethiopia?
- About 11,500 a day (4.2 million a year). About 2,200 people die each day (795,000 a year).
- Is the population of Ethiopia growing?
- Yes: it grows by 2.48% a year, or about 3.4 million people.
- What will the population of Ethiopia be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 225 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
- Brazil 213,783,507
- Bangladesh 178,484,011
- Russia 143,283,456
- Mexico 133,319,745
- Japan 122,207,154
- Egypt 120,651,343
More countries in Africa
- Nigeria 243,985,741
- Egypt 120,651,343
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 117,604,074
- Tanzania 73,203,819
- South Africa 65,670,724
- Kenya 58,985,363
- Sudan 53,734,916
- Uganda 53,195,377
- Algeria 48,206,512
- Angola 40,591,251
- Morocco 38,862,726
- Mozambique 36,962,476
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.