Demographics of Syria

Syria's estimated pre–Syrian Civil War 2011 population was 22 ±.5 million permanent inhabitants, which included 21,124,000 Syrians, as well as 1.3 million Iraqi refugees and over 500,000 Palestinian refugees.Syrian refugees, internally displaced Syrians and casualty numbers are in flux. The CIA World Factbook showed an estimated 20.4 m people as of July 2021. Of the pre-war population, six million are refugees outside the country, seven million are internally displaced and two million live in the Kurdish-ruled Autonomous Administration of [North and East Syria].
Most modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history. But they are, in fact, genetically a blend of the various Semitic-speaking groups indigenous to the region. With around 10% of the population, Kurds are the second biggest ethnic group in Syria, followed by Turkmen.

Population

This data is from CIA World Factbook: In 2023, the Syrian population increased by 6.39%. This made Syria the country with the highest population growth. The birth rate was estimated at 22.19 births per 1000 people. The death rate is 4.07 deaths for 1000 people. The median age for males is 23 years old, while for females, it is 24 years old. Overall, the Syrian median age is 23.5 years old. The migration rate is 45.78 migrants for 1,000 people.
In 1200, the territories of modern-day Syria had an estimated population of 2.7 million. This number sharply decreased due to the Plague epidemic in 1348–1353, which killed off an estimated third of the Levant's population. By 1937, the population reached an estimated 2,368,000, still considerably lower than 1200's estimated population.
Since 1960, censuses have been conducted in 1960, 1970, 1981, 1994, and 2004.
In 2017, the head of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, Mohammad Akram al-Qash, said that the Syrian population was 28 million, of which, 21 million were living in Syria and that 7 million were refugees. In 2018, the population was estimated to be 19,454,263 people. Ever since the Syrian Civil War, the population has been steadily declining, however rebounded in 2023, with an estimated population of 23,022,427 people.

Forced displacement

More than six million refugees left the country during the civil war, of whom over five million are registered as refugees by the UNHCR as of mid-2019. Most of them fled to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as European nations like Greece, Germany and Sweden. Since 2017, tens of thousands have returned.
The war resulted in large-scale displacement in the country. The UNHCR estimates internally displaced people at seven million. A further 70,000 people were trapped on the border with Jordan at Rukban in 2016–18, with up to 40,000 still there in 2019.
A significant part of the population lives in territory outside government sovereignty. At its peak in 2015, ISIL ruled over ten million people across Syria and Iraq. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, commonly referred to as Rojava, has a population of around two million. Areas controlled by the opposition have had a population in the millions. In mid-2017, UN OCHA estimated that around 540,000 persons were trapped in besieged areas as of June 2017, the majority besieged by government forces in Eastern Ghouta. By the time the government retook Ghouta in April 2018, some 140,000 individuals had fled their homes and up to 50,000 were evacuated to Idlib and Aleppo governorates. The latter rebel areas had an estimated population of 3 million. Fighting in Idlib has led to further displacements, of up to 250,000 people, and generating new refugee outflows to neighbouring Turkey.
Displacement has led to demographic shifts. One example is the area in the North under control by Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Many human rights groups, including Amnesty International and international organizations have accused SDF forces of committing ethnic cleansing in Arab areas they were capturing from other war factions. The accusation was repeated on 8 May 2019 by Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. NGOs and the opposition have also accused the government of using the conflict to affect demographic restructuring.

Casualties of the civil war

In April 2016, the UN estimated that 400,000 people had died in the war, and casualties have continued since, with estimates for the total dead by mid-2019 of up to 220,000 civilians, 175,000 government combatants, and 174,000 anti-government combatants .

Population centers

60% of the population lives in the Aleppo Governorate, the Euphrates valley or along the coastal plain; a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density is about.

Urbanization

This data is from CIA World Factbook:
Urban population: 54.2% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 1.43% annual rate of change

Major urban areas

As of 2018; this data is from CIA World Factbook:
Damascus : 2.32 million
Aleppo: 1.754 million
Homs: 1.295 million
Hama: 894,000

Vital statistics

United Nations estimates

Notable events Syrian demographics:

1982 – 1982 Hama massacre
2006-2008 – Iraqi civil war
2006 – 2006 Lebanon war
2011-2024 – Syrian civil war

UN estimates:'
Period Population Live births Deaths Natural change Birth rate
Death rate
Natural change
Crude migration rate
Total Fertility rate Infant mortality Life expectancy
1950 3 544 000 167 000 92 000 75 000 47.0 25.9 21.1 7.60 179.6 44.14
1951 3 621 000 171 000 92 000 80 000 47.3 25.4 22.0 -0.7 7.60 177.5 44.45
1952 3 703 000 176 000 91 000 85 000 47.6 24.7 23.0 -0.9 7.61 173.3 44.99
1953 3 791 000 182 000 90 000 91 000 47.9 23.9 24.0 -0.8 7.61 169.1 45.70
1954 3 886 000 187 000 88 000 99 000 48.0 22.6 25.5 -1.1 7.62 160.2 46.97
1955 3 989 000 192 000 85 000 107 000 48.2 21.3 26.8 -1.0 7.62 151.7 48.31
1956 4 099 000 197 000 83 000 114 000 48.0 20.3 27.7 -0.9 7.59 143.9 49.39
1957 4 217 000 202 000 81 000 121 000 47.8 19.1 28.7 -0,7 7.57 136.6 50.58
1958 4 341 000 207 000 79 000 128 000 47.6 18.2 29.4 -0.8 7.54 129.9 51.57
1959 4 473 000 212 000 77 000 135 000 47.3 17.2 30.1 -0.6 7.51 123.7 52.61
1960 4 611 000 217 000 75 000 142 000 47.0 16.3 30.7 -0.8 7.49 118.0 53.55
1961 4 752 000 221 000 74 000 147 000 46.5 15.5 31.0 -1.3 7.43 113.0 54.44
1962 4 895 000 227 000 73 000 154 000 46.4 14.8 31.5 -2.3 7.44 108.4 55.09
1963 5 045 000 233 000 72 000 162 000 46.2 14.2 32.0 -2.3 7.44 104.2 55.78
1964 5 203 000 241 000 71 000 170 000 46.2 13.6 32.6 -2.2 7.47 100.3 56.50
1965 5 368 000 249 000 70 000 179 000 46.3 13.1 33.3 -2.6 7.51 96.5 57.11
1966 5 542 000 258 000 70 000 188 000 46.5 12.6 33.8 -2.4 7.55 92.7 57.60
1967 5 723 000 267 000 70 000 197 000 46.6 12.2 34.4 -2.8 7.58 88.9 58.10
1968 5 913 000 276 000 68 000 208 000 46.6 11.5 35.1 -3.0 7.60 85.0 59.07
1969 6 111 000 288 000 67 000 220 000 47.0 11.0 36.0 -3.6 7.67 81.1 59.88
1970 6 319 000 298 000 67 000 231 000 47.1 10.5 36.5 -3.6 7.69 77.2 60.53
1971 6 539 000 305 000 65 000 240 000 46.7 10.0 36.7 -3.1 7.65 73.5 61.37
1972 6 769 000 314 000 65 000 249 000 46.3 9.6 36.7 -2.7 7.61 70.1 61.90
1973 7 003 000 322 000 69 000 253 000 45.9 9.8 36.1 -2.7 7.56 66.9 60.69
1974 7 245 000 331 000 63 000 267 000 45.6 8.7 36.9 -3.5 7.51 63.8 63.12
1975 7 497 000 341 000 63 000 278 000 45.4 8.4 37.0 -3.4 7.47 60.9 63.54
1976 7 759 000 352 000 63 000 289 000 45.3 8.1 37.2 -3.4 7.44 58.0 63.92
1977 8 029 000 364 000 65 000 299 000 45.2 8.1 37.2 -3.6 7.41 55.2 63.76
1978 8 310 000 373 000 60 000 314 000 44.8 7.2 37.7 -3.9 7.35 52.4 65.81
1979 8 601 000 382 000 60 000 322 000 44.3 6.9 37.4 -3.6 7.27 49.7 66.14
1980 8 899 000 390 000 60 000 330 000 43.8 6.7 37.1 -3.6 7.16 47.2 66.35
1981 9 204 000 396 000 68 000 328 000 43.0 7.4 35.6 -2.5 7.01 47.0 64.37
1982 9 511 000 404 000 83 000 321 000 42.4 8.7 33.7 -1.4 6.88 48.6 61.12
1983 9 835 000 413 000 58 000 355 000 41.9 5.9 36.0 -3.1 6.74 40.3 67.83
1984 10 183 000 422 000 55 000 366 000 41.4 5.4 35.9 -1.7 6.61 38.3 68.92
1985 10 541 000 432 000 57 000 375 000 41.0 5.4 35.5 -1.5 6.48 36.6 68.76
1986 10 908 000 441 000 57 000 384 000 40.4 5.2 35.2 -1.6 6.33 35.0 69.21
1987 11 281 000 447 000 58 000 389 000 39.6 5.1 34.5 -1.4 6.13 33.5 69.30
1988 11 658 000 448 000 58 000 390 000 38.4 4.9 33.4 -1.1 5.89 32.3 69.67
1989 12 034 000 446 000 58 000 388 000 37.1 4.9 32.2 -1.0 5.63 31.1 69.76
1990 12 409 000 446 000 59 000 387 000 35.9 4.8 31.1 -0.9 5.38 29.9 69.82
1991 12 782 000 444 000 60 000 384 000 34.7 4.7 30.0 -0.8 5.12 28.8 70.04
1992 13 156 000 448 000 60 000 387 000 34.0 4.6 29.4 -1.0 4.95 27.7 70.26
1993 13 537 000 459 000 62 000 397 000 33.9 4.6 29.3 -1.2 4.83 26.5 70.19
1994 13 923 000 468 000 64 000 404 000 33.6 4.6 29.0 -1.3 4.72 25.4 70.14
1995 14 313 000 474 000 64 000 409 000 33.1 4.5 28.6 -1.4 4.57 24.2 70.42
1996 14 709 000 478 000 67 000 411 000 32.5 4.5 28.0 -1.1 4.43 23.1 70.35
1997 15 104 000 481 000 69 000 412 000 31.8 4.5 27.3 -1.1 4.28 22.0 70.28
1998 15 501 000 487 000 71 000 416 000 31.4 4.6 26.8 -1.2 4.18 21.0 70.20
1999 15 901 000 493 000 72 000 421 000 31.0 4.5 26.5 -1.3 4.08 20.1 70.43
2000 16 308 000 500 000 72 000 428 000 30.6 4.4 26.2 -1.2 4.00 19.3 70.76
2001 16 728 000 519 000 70 000 449 000 31.0 4.2 26.8 -1.7 4.01 18.6 71.64
2002 17 164 000 529 000 70 000 459 000 30.8 4.1 26.7 -1.3 3.95 18.0 71.94
2003 17 611 000 541 000 70 000 471 000 30.7 4.0 26.7 -1.3 3.90 17.4 72.41
2004 18 084 000 553 000 72 000 481 000 30.6 4.0 26.6 -0.4 3.86 17.0 72.48
2005 18 584 000 567 000 73 000 494 000 30.5 3.9 26.6 0.3 3.81 16.6 72.77
2006 19 432 000 579 000 72 000 507 000 30.3 3.8 26.5 17.1 3.76 16.3 73.35
2007 20 703 000 625 000 75 000 551 000 30.8 3.7 27.1 34.3 3.70 16.1 73.71
2008 21 474 000 673 000 81 000 592 000 31.0 3.7 27.3 8.6 3.61 16.0 73.55
2009 21 827 000 650 000 80 000 569 000 29.7 3.7 26.1 -9.9 3.51 15.9 73.85
2010 22 338 000 641 000 83 000 558 000 28.7 3.7 25.0 -2.1 3.40 15.9 73.88
2011 22 731 000 629 000 90 000 539 000 27.5 3.9 23.6 -2.1 3.28 16.4 73.31
2012 22 606 000 615 000 148 000 467 000 26.6 6.4 20.2 -6.3 3.22 23.0 66.77
2013 21 496 000 568 000 173 000 394 000 25.2 7.7 17.5 -25.7 3.16 26.3 63.83
2014 20 072 000 465 000 168 000 297 000 22.4 8.1 14.3 -69.1 3.12 27.1 63.15
2015 19 205 000 397 000 143 000 254 000 20.2 7.3 12.9 -85.2 3.07 25.1 65.12
2016 18 964 000 359 000 133 000 226 000 18.9 7.0 11.9 -24.6 3.01 24.5 65.99
2017 18 983 000 355 000 115 000 240 000 18.6 6.0 12.5 -11.5 2.97 18.5 68.48
2018 19 333 000 346 000 106 000 240 000 18.2 5.6 12.6 5.5 2.93 18.6 70.15
2019 20 098 000 375 000 100 000 275 000 18.9 5.0 13.9 24.2 2.88 18.1 71.82
2020 20 773 000 406 000 103 000 303 000 19.7 5.0 14.7 17.8 2.84 18.1 72.14
2021 21 324 000 427 000 109 000 318 000 21.2 5.1 15.0 10.8 2.80 17.8 72.06
2022 21.2 2.75
2023 22.1 2.71
2024 23.2 2.70
2025 23.5 2.66'''

Fertility Rate
Name TFR
Aleppo 3.2
Damascus 2.6
Daraa 5.2
Deir ez-Zor 6.9
Hama 3.3
Al-Hasakah 3.5
Homs 3.1
Idlib 4.8
Latakia 2.2
Quneitra 3.8
Raqqa 5
Rif Dimashq 3.3
Al-Suwayda 2.1
Tartus 2.3
Syria 3.5

Name MFR
Aleppo 5.4
Damascus 4.7
Daraa 7.3
Deir ez-Zor 10.2
Hama 6.6
Al-Hasakah 6.8
Homs 5.9
Idlib 7.7
Latakia 4.5
Quneitra 6.5
Raqqa 7.9
Rif Dimashq 5.4
Al-Suwayda 4
Tartus 4.8
Syria 6

Life expectancy at birth
This data is from CIA World Factbook:
total: 75.2 years

male: 72.8 years

female: 77.8 years
Ethnicity and religion
On 1 January 2011, Syria was estimated to have a population of 24 million people, distributed over its 14 governorates. Arabs represent 80-85% of the population, with the rest being a mixture of many ethnic and religious sects, as shown in the table below:
Ethnic and religious groups % of Syrian population Notes
Syrian Arabs 80–85% The Arabs form the majority in all districts except for the Al-Hasakah Governorate.
Kurds 10% The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, with a Yazidi minority; concentrated in Syrian Kurdistan region and major urban centres outside that region. 1.5 million Kurds live in Syria.
Turkmen/Turkoman 4–5% Descendants of ethnic Turks, rather than Turkmens. These figures exclude the Arabic-speaking Turks. Only approximately 30% of Turkmen speak a Turkic language. The majority are Sunni Muslims.
Assyrians/Syriacs 3–4% Assyrians are exclusively Christians following the Syriac Christian Rite.
Circassians 1.5% The majority of Circassians are Sunni Muslims.
Armenians 1% The majority of Armenians are Christians.
Smaller groups of Albanians, Greeks and Chechens, among others <0.9% A significant number of these ethnic groups are Arabized, particularly those that adhere to Islam.

The CIA World Factbook cites the following figures for ethnic groups as in July 2018: approximately Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10%, other 15%. Professor John A. Shoup estimated in 2018 that Kurds made 9% of the population, followed by Turkish-speaking Turkmen comprising 4-5%, Assyrians 4%, Armenians 2%, and Circassians about 1% of the total population.
There has been no Syrian census including a question about religion since 1960, these are thus the last official statistics available:
In 1991, Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch said that some 85% of Syrians were Muslims and that the remainder were almost all Christians, however, both religious groups were subdivided into many ethnic sects. Among the former, approximately 75% of Syrians were Sunni Muslim, of whom, 60% were Arabic-speaking and the remainder of Sunnis included Kurds 8.5%, Turkmen/Turkoman 3%, and Circassians. In addition, Alawis formed 5.5%, Druze 3%, and Ismailis 1.5% of the population. In regards to the Christians, they were subdivided into the Greek Orthodox 4.7%, Armenians 4%, and Assyrians 1%.
According to Pierre Beckouche, before 2011, Sunni Muslims accounted for 78% of Syria's population, which included 500,000 Palestinian refugees and the non-Arab Sunni Muslims, namely the Kurds 9-10% and the Turkmen/Turkoman 4%. Other Muslims included Shias and Alawites 11%-16%, whilst the Christians made up 6% of the population. There were also a few Jewish communities in Aleppo and Damascus.
The CIA World Factbook cites the following figures for religious groups:
religions - Muslim 87%, Christian 10%, Druze 3%.
The first census which focused on the sectarian distribution was carried out in 1932 under the French mandate, however, this census was only carried out in the lands under the short-lived Government of Latakia which covered only out of modern Syria's total area of. A general census of Syria in 1943 gave details of religious groups of the population and the rate of growth of each and estimates of the population in 1953 from an unnamed source were as follows:
Languages
Arabic is the official, and most widely spoken, language. Arabic speakers make up 85% of the population. Several modern Arabic dialects are used in everyday life, most notably Levantine in the west and Mesopotamian in the northeast. A report published by the UNHCR points out that "while the majority of Syrians are considered Arabs, this is a term based on spoken language, not ethnicity."
According to The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, in addition to Arabic, the following languages are spoken in the country, in order of the number of speakers: Kurdish, Turkish, Neo-Aramaic, Circassian, Chechen, Armenian, and finally Greek. None of these languages have official status.
Many educated Syrians also speak English and French.

Period	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Birth rate	Death rate	Natural change	Crude migration rate	Total Fertility rate	Infant mortality	Life expectancy
1950	3 544 000	167 000	92 000	75 000	47.0	25.9	21.1		7.60	179.6	44.14
1951	3 621 000	171 000	92 000	80 000	47.3	25.4	22.0	-0.7	7.60	177.5	44.45
1952	3 703 000	176 000	91 000	85 000	47.6	24.7	23.0	-0.9	7.61	173.3	44.99
1953	3 791 000	182 000	90 000	91 000	47.9	23.9	24.0	-0.8	7.61	169.1	45.70
1954	3 886 000	187 000	88 000	99 000	48.0	22.6	25.5	-1.1	7.62	160.2	46.97
1955	3 989 000	192 000	85 000	107 000	48.2	21.3	26.8	-1.0	7.62	151.7	48.31
1956	4 099 000	197 000	83 000	114 000	48.0	20.3	27.7	-0.9	7.59	143.9	49.39
1957	4 217 000	202 000	81 000	121 000	47.8	19.1	28.7	-0,7	7.57	136.6	50.58
1958	4 341 000	207 000	79 000	128 000	47.6	18.2	29.4	-0.8	7.54	129.9	51.57
1959	4 473 000	212 000	77 000	135 000	47.3	17.2	30.1	-0.6	7.51	123.7	52.61
1960	4 611 000	217 000	75 000	142 000	47.0	16.3	30.7	-0.8	7.49	118.0	53.55
1961	4 752 000	221 000	74 000	147 000	46.5	15.5	31.0	-1.3	7.43	113.0	54.44
1962	4 895 000	227 000	73 000	154 000	46.4	14.8	31.5	-2.3	7.44	108.4	55.09
1963	5 045 000	233 000	72 000	162 000	46.2	14.2	32.0	-2.3	7.44	104.2	55.78
1964	5 203 000	241 000	71 000	170 000	46.2	13.6	32.6	-2.2	7.47	100.3	56.50
1965	5 368 000	249 000	70 000	179 000	46.3	13.1	33.3	-2.6	7.51	96.5	57.11
1966	5 542 000	258 000	70 000	188 000	46.5	12.6	33.8	-2.4	7.55	92.7	57.60
1967	5 723 000	267 000	70 000	197 000	46.6	12.2	34.4	-2.8	7.58	88.9	58.10
1968	5 913 000	276 000	68 000	208 000	46.6	11.5	35.1	-3.0	7.60	85.0	59.07
1969	6 111 000	288 000	67 000	220 000	47.0	11.0	36.0	-3.6	7.67	81.1	59.88
1970	6 319 000	298 000	67 000	231 000	47.1	10.5	36.5	-3.6	7.69	77.2	60.53
1971	6 539 000	305 000	65 000	240 000	46.7	10.0	36.7	-3.1	7.65	73.5	61.37
1972	6 769 000	314 000	65 000	249 000	46.3	9.6	36.7	-2.7	7.61	70.1	61.90
1973	7 003 000	322 000	69 000	253 000	45.9	9.8	36.1	-2.7	7.56	66.9	60.69
1974	7 245 000	331 000	63 000	267 000	45.6	8.7	36.9	-3.5	7.51	63.8	63.12
1975	7 497 000	341 000	63 000	278 000	45.4	8.4	37.0	-3.4	7.47	60.9	63.54
1976	7 759 000	352 000	63 000	289 000	45.3	8.1	37.2	-3.4	7.44	58.0	63.92
1977	8 029 000	364 000	65 000	299 000	45.2	8.1	37.2	-3.6	7.41	55.2	63.76
1978	8 310 000	373 000	60 000	314 000	44.8	7.2	37.7	-3.9	7.35	52.4	65.81
1979	8 601 000	382 000	60 000	322 000	44.3	6.9	37.4	-3.6	7.27	49.7	66.14
1980	8 899 000	390 000	60 000	330 000	43.8	6.7	37.1	-3.6	7.16	47.2	66.35
1981	9 204 000	396 000	68 000	328 000	43.0	7.4	35.6	-2.5	7.01	47.0	64.37
1982	9 511 000	404 000	83 000	321 000	42.4	8.7	33.7	-1.4	6.88	48.6	61.12
1983	9 835 000	413 000	58 000	355 000	41.9	5.9	36.0	-3.1	6.74	40.3	67.83
1984	10 183 000	422 000	55 000	366 000	41.4	5.4	35.9	-1.7	6.61	38.3	68.92
1985	10 541 000	432 000	57 000	375 000	41.0	5.4	35.5	-1.5	6.48	36.6	68.76
1986	10 908 000	441 000	57 000	384 000	40.4	5.2	35.2	-1.6	6.33	35.0	69.21
1987	11 281 000	447 000	58 000	389 000	39.6	5.1	34.5	-1.4	6.13	33.5	69.30
1988	11 658 000	448 000	58 000	390 000	38.4	4.9	33.4	-1.1	5.89	32.3	69.67
1989	12 034 000	446 000	58 000	388 000	37.1	4.9	32.2	-1.0	5.63	31.1	69.76
1990	12 409 000	446 000	59 000	387 000	35.9	4.8	31.1	-0.9	5.38	29.9	69.82
1991	12 782 000	444 000	60 000	384 000	34.7	4.7	30.0	-0.8	5.12	28.8	70.04
1992	13 156 000	448 000	60 000	387 000	34.0	4.6	29.4	-1.0	4.95	27.7	70.26
1993	13 537 000	459 000	62 000	397 000	33.9	4.6	29.3	-1.2	4.83	26.5	70.19
1994	13 923 000	468 000	64 000	404 000	33.6	4.6	29.0	-1.3	4.72	25.4	70.14
1995	14 313 000	474 000	64 000	409 000	33.1	4.5	28.6	-1.4	4.57	24.2	70.42
1996	14 709 000	478 000	67 000	411 000	32.5	4.5	28.0	-1.1	4.43	23.1	70.35
1997	15 104 000	481 000	69 000	412 000	31.8	4.5	27.3	-1.1	4.28	22.0	70.28
1998	15 501 000	487 000	71 000	416 000	31.4	4.6	26.8	-1.2	4.18	21.0	70.20
1999	15 901 000	493 000	72 000	421 000	31.0	4.5	26.5	-1.3	4.08	20.1	70.43
2000	16 308 000	500 000	72 000	428 000	30.6	4.4	26.2	-1.2	4.00	19.3	70.76
2001	16 728 000	519 000	70 000	449 000	31.0	4.2	26.8	-1.7	4.01	18.6	71.64
2002	17 164 000	529 000	70 000	459 000	30.8	4.1	26.7	-1.3	3.95	18.0	71.94
2003	17 611 000	541 000	70 000	471 000	30.7	4.0	26.7	-1.3	3.90	17.4	72.41
2004	18 084 000	553 000	72 000	481 000	30.6	4.0	26.6	-0.4	3.86	17.0	72.48
2005	18 584 000	567 000	73 000	494 000	30.5	3.9	26.6	0.3	3.81	16.6	72.77
2006	19 432 000	579 000	72 000	507 000	30.3	3.8	26.5	17.1	3.76	16.3	73.35
2007	20 703 000	625 000	75 000	551 000	30.8	3.7	27.1	34.3	3.70	16.1	73.71
2008	21 474 000	673 000	81 000	592 000	31.0	3.7	27.3	8.6	3.61	16.0	73.55
2009	21 827 000	650 000	80 000	569 000	29.7	3.7	26.1	-9.9	3.51	15.9	73.85
2010	22 338 000	641 000	83 000	558 000	28.7	3.7	25.0	-2.1	3.40	15.9	73.88
2011	22 731 000	629 000	90 000	539 000	27.5	3.9	23.6	-2.1	3.28	16.4	73.31
2012	22 606 000	615 000	148 000	467 000	26.6	6.4	20.2	-6.3	3.22	23.0	66.77
2013	21 496 000	568 000	173 000	394 000	25.2	7.7	17.5	-25.7	3.16	26.3	63.83
2014	20 072 000	465 000	168 000	297 000	22.4	8.1	14.3	-69.1	3.12	27.1	63.15
2015	19 205 000	397 000	143 000	254 000	20.2	7.3	12.9	-85.2	3.07	25.1	65.12
2016	18 964 000	359 000	133 000	226 000	18.9	7.0	11.9	-24.6	3.01	24.5	65.99
2017	18 983 000	355 000	115 000	240 000	18.6	6.0	12.5	-11.5	2.97	18.5	68.48
2018	19 333 000	346 000	106 000	240 000	18.2	5.6	12.6	5.5	2.93	18.6	70.15
2019	20 098 000	375 000	100 000	275 000	18.9	5.0	13.9	24.2	2.88	18.1	71.82
2020	20 773 000	406 000	103 000	303 000	19.7	5.0	14.7	17.8	2.84	18.1	72.14
2021	21 324 000	427 000	109 000	318 000	21.2	5.1	15.0	10.8	2.80	17.8	72.06
2022					21.2				2.75
2023					22.1				2.71
2024					23.2				2.70
2025					23.5				2.66'''

Name	TFR
Aleppo	3.2
Damascus	2.6
Daraa	5.2
Deir ez-Zor	6.9
Hama	3.3
Al-Hasakah	3.5
Homs	3.1
Idlib	4.8
Latakia	2.2
Quneitra	3.8
Raqqa	5
Rif Dimashq	3.3
Al-Suwayda	2.1
Tartus	2.3
Syria	3.5

Ethnic and religious groups	% of Syrian population	Notes
Syrian Arabs	80–85%	The Arabs form the majority in all districts except for the Al-Hasakah Governorate.
Kurds	10%	The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, with a Yazidi minority; concentrated in Syrian Kurdistan region and major urban centres outside that region. 1.5 million Kurds live in Syria.
Turkmen/Turkoman	4–5%	Descendants of ethnic Turks, rather than Turkmens. These figures exclude the Arabic-speaking Turks. Only approximately 30% of Turkmen speak a Turkic language. The majority are Sunni Muslims.
Assyrians/Syriacs	3–4%	Assyrians are exclusively Christians following the Syriac Christian Rite.
Circassians	1.5%	The majority of Circassians are Sunni Muslims.
Armenians	1%	The majority of Armenians are Christians.
Smaller groups of Albanians, Greeks and Chechens, among others	<0.9%	A significant number of these ethnic groups are Arabized, particularly those that adhere to Islam.