Demographics of South Sudan

is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a population of around million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the community and elders acting as problem solvers and adjudicators. Today, most ethnic groups still embrace a cattle culture in which livestock is the main measure of wealth and used for bride wealth.
The majority of the ethnic groups in South Sudan are of African heritage who practice either Christianity or syncretisms of Christian and Traditional African religion. There is a significant minority of people, primarily tribes of Arab heritage, who practice Islam. Most tribes of African heritage have at least one clan that has embraced Islam, and some clans of tribes of Arab heritage have embraced Christianity.
Linguistic diversity is much greater in the southern half of the country, a significant majority of the people belong to either the Dinka people of the South Sudan population, and primary residents of the historic Upper Nile Region and Bahr el Ghazal Region or the Nuer people of the South Sudan population living primarily in the historic Greater Upper Nile region along with a significant number of Dinka. Both peoples speak one of the Nilo-Saharan languages and are closely related linguistically. Sixty four languages are standard language in South Sudan; however, their dialects are not all mutually intelligible.
Historically, neither the Dinka nor the Nuer or any other tribes have a tradition of centralized political authority and embrace a cattle culture where land is held by the community and livestock is the main measure of wealth. It is common to conduct cattle raids against neighbors. The tribes are fragmented into clans of politically separate communities with customs against intermarriage among clans. Processes of urbanization are a source of significant cultural change and societal conflict.

Population size

It was estimated that the population of South Sudan was with the following age structure:

Age	Percent	Male	Female
0–14 years	46.2%	2,613,696	2,505,794
15–24 years	19.7%	1,148,967	1,030,596
25–54 years	29%	1,547,552	1,666,242
55–64 years	3.1%	186,460	154,924
65 plus years	2.1%	133,300	102,600

Population by Sex and Age Group :

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	4 287 300	3 973 190	8 260 490	100
0–4	689 427	614 704	1 304 131	15.79
5–9	688 385	609 431	1 297 816	15.71
10–14	569 537	487 853	1 057 390	12.80
15–19	462 902	426 927	889 829	10.77
20–24	360 788	378 218	739 006	8.95
25–29	335 398	362 613	698 011	8.45
30–34	258 531	278 384	536 915	6.50
35–39	238 985	236 828	475 813	5.76
40–44	173 493	166 211	339 704	4.11
45–49	149 941	126 159	276 100	3.34
50–54	104 812	92 453	197 265	2.39
55–59	67 845	53 950	121 795	1.47
60–64	64 236	51 395	115 631	1.40
65-69	41 455	31 700	73 155	0.89
70-74	34 785	24 502	59 287	0.72
75-79	17 424	11 495	28 919	0.35
80-84	14 314	10 200	24 514	0.30
85-89	6 731	4 251	10 982	0.13
90-94	4 477	2 884	7 361	0.09
95+	3 834	3 032	6 866	0.08
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 947 349	1 711 988	3 659 337	44.30
15–64	2 216 931	2 173 138	4 390 069	53.15
65+	123 020	88 064	211 084	2.56

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group :

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	6 311 618	6 011 801	12 323 420	100
0–4	1 301 082	1 282 553	2 583 635	20.97
5–9	1 036 396	1 026 890	2 063 286	16.74
10–14	674 769	608 559	1 283 328	10.41
15–19	674 552	598 127	1 272 679	10.33
20–24	552 586	473 845	1 026 431	8.33
25–29	442 942	408 891	851 834	6.91
30–34	343 313	360 210	703 523	5.71
35–39	317 791	343 554	661 345	5.37
40–44	243 196	261 673	504 869	4.10
45–49	221 473	218 855	440 328	3.57
50–54	157 507	150 218	307 725	2.50
55–59	130 983	109 143	240 125	1.95
60–64	86 498	75 082	161 580	1.31
65-69	50 690	39 001	89 691	0.73
70-74	41 750	31 722	73 472	0.60
75-79	20 477	14 206	34 683	0.28
80-84	11 648	7 168	18 816	0.15
85-89	2 942	1 561	4 503	0.04
90-94	965	518	1 483	0.01
95+	57	26	83	<0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	3 012 247	2 918 002	5 930 249	48.12
15–64	3 170 842	2 999 597	6 170 439	50.07
65+	128 529	94 202	222 731	1.81

2008 census

The "Fifth Population and Housing Census of Sudan", of Sudan as a whole, was conducted in April 2008. However the census results of Southern Sudan were rejected by Southern Sudanese officials as reportedly "the central bureau of statistics in Khartoum refused to share the national Sudan census raw data with southern Sudan centre for census, statistic and evaluation." The census showed the Southern Sudan population to be 8.26 million, however President Kiir had "suspected figures were being deflated in some regions and inflated in others, and that made the final tally 'unacceptable'." He also claimed the Southern Sudanese population to really be one-third of Sudan, while the census showed it to be only 22%. Many Southern Sudanese were also said to not have been counted "due to bad weather, really poor communication and transport networks, and some areas were unreachable, while many Southern Sudanese remained in exile in neighbouring countries, leading to 'unacceptable results', according southern Sudanese authorities." The chief American technical adviser for the census in the South said the census-takers probably reached 89% of the population. If this estimate is correct, the size of the South Sudanese population is about 9.28 million.
The population count was a determining factor for the share of wealth and power each part of Sudan received. Among the accusations made against the census were that the Sudanese government deliberately manipulated the census in oil-rich regions such as the Abyei district, on the border between northern Sudan and southern Sudan. Another complication is the large population of South Sudanese refugees in the north. The central government inhibited their return.

2009 census

In 2009, Sudan started a new Southern Sudanese census ahead of the 2011 independence referendum, which is said to also include the Southern Sudanese diaspora. However this initiative was criticised as it was to leave out countries with a high share of the Southern Sudanese diaspora, and rather count countries where the diaspora share was low.

Vital statistics

The registration of vital events in South Sudan is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Population estimates account for under numeration in population censuses.

	Mid-year population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change	Total fertility rate	Infant mortality	Life expectancy
1950	2 492	115	83	32	46.2	33.3	12.9	6.63	236.8	31.25
1951	2 526	118	82	36	46.8	32.6	14.2	6.63	234.3	31.55
1952	2 564	121	82	39	47.3	32.0	15.3	6.65	229.6	31.95
1953	2 605	124	82	43	47.7	31.4	16.4	6.66	225.2	32.48
1954	2 649	127	82	46	48.1	30.9	17.2	6.67	221.0	32.93
1955	2 695	131	83	48	48.5	30.7	17.7	6.68	219.1	33.16
1956	2 743	134	86	47	48.8	31.5	17.3	6.69	217.9	32.53
1957	2 790	137	90	47	49.1	32.4	16.7	6.69	216.9	31.70
1958	2 831	140	104	36	49.4	36.6	12.8	6.70	217.7	28.17
1959	2 869	143	104	38	49.7	36.4	13.3	6.71	216.0	28.40
1960	2 908	145	105	40	50.0	36.1	13.9	6.72	214.2	28.66
1961	2 949	148	106	42	50.2	35.9	14.3	6.73	212.3	28.84
1962	2 992	151	107	44	50.5	35.6	14.9	6.75	210.6	29.12
1963	3 036	154	111	43	50.8	36.5	14.3	6.76	217.6	28.83
1964	3 089	158	96	61	51.1	31.2	19.9	6.78	205.4	33.15
1965	3 144	161	113	48	51.3	35.9	15.4	6.80	213.3	29.29
1966	3 185	165	130	35	51.7	40.7	11.0	6.82	221.4	26.08
1967	3 222	167	129	38	52.0	40.1	11.9	6.84	219.0	26.41
1968	3 262	170	129	41	52.2	39.6	12.6	6.86	216.6	26.71
1969	3 302	173	134	39	52.3	40.5	11.8	6.87	217.1	26.09
1970	3 342	175	133	42	52.5	39.9	12.5	6.88	214.7	26.40
1971	3 397	178	111	67	52.4	32.7	19.7	6.89	197.9	31.58
1972	3 465	181	112	69	52.3	32.4	19.9	6.90	195.7	31.91
1973	3 542	184	98	87	52.0	27.6	24.4	6.91	184.1	36.48
1974	3 630	188	100	88	51.7	27.5	24.2	6.92	182.4	36.51
1975	3 718	191	101	90	51.4	27.3	24.1	6.92	180.4	36.75
1976	3 809	194	103	91	51.0	27.1	23.9	6.92	178.3	36.84
1977	3 901	197	104	94	50.6	26.6	24.0	6.91	176.1	37.33
1978	3 996	201	105	96	50.2	26.2	24.0	6.90	174.2	37.65
1979	4 093	204	106	98	49.8	25.9	23.9	6.87	172.3	37.92
1980	4 192	207	106	101	49.3	25.3	24.0	6.85	170.4	38.42
1981	4 294	210	107	103	48.9	24.9	24.0	6.83	168.5	38.78
1982	4 398	214	108	106	48.6	24.6	24.0	6.81	166.7	39.11
1983	4 503	228	125	103	50.6	27.8	22.8	7.13	167.4	35.49
1984	4 603	240	142	98	52.2	30.9	21.3	7.44	167.3	32.67
1985	4 707	254	144	110	53.9	30.6	23.3	7.77	164.9	33.15
1986	4 820	262	146	116	54.3	30.3	24.0	7.91	162.5	33.63
1987	4 894	265	232	33	54.1	47.5	6.6	7.95	171.8	21.91
1988	4 815	269	362	−93	55.3	74.6	−19.2	8.01	400.6	12.41
1989	4 707	267	162	105	55.8	33.9	21.9	7.99	158.1	29.68
1990	4 751	263	162	102	55.5	34.1	21.4	7.99	155.4	29.94
1991	4 867	269	165	104	55.3	33.9	21.4	8.00	152.6	30.15
1992	4 957	273	226	46	55.1	45.7	9.4	8.00	157.9	22.72
1993	5 018	274	229	45	54.8	45.7	9.0	8.01	154.8	22.70
1994	5 143	280	108	172	54.5	21.0	33.5	7.99	134.2	44.38
1995	5 302	286	173	113	54.0	32.7	21.3	7.96	138.9	30.95
1996	5 435	292	175	118	53.9	32.2	21.7	7.99	135.3	31.30
1997	5 589	297	172	125	53.4	31.0	22.5	7.97	130.4	32.24
1998	5 699	299	317	−18	52.8	55.9	−3.1	7.82	215.2	18.39
1999	5 850	304	120	184	52.3	20.6	31.7	7.67	115.5	43.22
2000	6 114	313	113	200	51.4	18.6	32.8	7.51	109.6	46.03
2001	6 394	322	113	208	50.6	17.8	32.8	7.37	104.9	46.88
2002	6 686	329	114	214	49.5	17.2	32.3	7.19	100.3	47.49
2003	6 992	330	106	223	47.5	15.3	32.2	6.85	94.9	50.25
2004	7 317	330	106	224	45.5	14.7	30.8	6.52	90.9	50.92
2005	7 663	331	107	224	43.5	14.0	29.5	6.17	86.5	51.55
2006	8 030	331	108	223	41.6	13.5	28.0	5.82	83.0	52.02
2007	8 418	340	108	232	40.8	12.9	27.9	5.64	79.4	52.86
2008	8 824	356	109	247	40.7	12.5	28.2	5.55	75.7	53.54
2009	9 229	371	112	259	40.5	12.2	28.3	5.47	72.8	53.89
2010	9 714	384	112	273	40.2	11.7	28.5	5.38	69.4	54.81
2011	10 243	409	118	291	40.3	11.6	28.7	5.29	67.1	54.94
2012	10 702	424	118	306	39.9	11.1	28.8	5.20	64.8	55.87
2013	11 106	435	123	312	39.3	11.1	28.1	5.11	64.1	55.75
2014	11 213	441	132	309	38.5	11.5	27.0	5.02	64.0	54.97
2015	11 194	409	125	285	36.3	11.1	25.3	4.94	63.8	55.57
2016	11 066	400	125	275	35.2	11.0	24.1	4.86	63.8	55.54
2017	10 658	359	121	238	32.7	11.0	21.6	4.78	63.9	55.31
2018	10 395	318	112	206	30.1	10.6	19.6	4.70	63.6	55.95
2019	10 448	303	110	194	29.1	10.5	18.5	4.62	63.7	55.91
2020	10 561	315	103	212	29.4	9.6	19.8	4.16	63.8	57.6
2021	10 836	323	109	214	29.7	10.0	19.7	4.05	63.9	57.0
2022	10 895	320	109	211	29.1	9.9	19.2	3.96	63.9	57.2
2023	11 147	328	110	218	28.6	9.6	19.0	3.86	60.6	57.6