Population and Demographics

Whilst the vast majority of modern Tunisians identify themselves as Arab, most Tunisians descend from indigenous Berbers: less than 20% of the Tunisian gene pool comes from the Middle East. Numerous civilisations have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Significant influxes of population have come through conquest by the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottomans and French. Many Spanish Moors and Jews also arrived at the end of the 15th century.

Nearly all Tunisians (98% of the population) are Muslim. There has been a Jewish population on the southern island of Djerba for 2,500 years, and though considerably diminished, there remains a small Jewish population in Tunis which is descended from those who fled Spain in the late 15th century. There is also a small indigenous Christian population. Small nomadic indigenous minorities have been mostly assimilated into the larger population.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 10,175,014
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 24.6% (male 1,293,235/female 1,212,994)
  • 15-64 years: 68.6% (male 3,504,283/female 3,478,268)
  • 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 327,521/female 358,713)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 27.8 years
  • Male: 27.3 years
  • Female: 28.3 years
• Population Growth Rate: 0.99%
• Birth Rate: 15.52 births/1,000 population
• Death Rate: 5.13 deaths/1,000 population
• Net Migration Rate: -0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 23.84 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 26.7 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 20.77 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 75.12 years
  • Male: 73.4 years
  • Female: 76.96 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 1.74 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 1,000
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Arab 98%
  • European 1%
  • Jewish and other 1%
• Religions:
  • Muslim 98%
  • Christian 1%
  • Jewish and other 1%
• Languages:
  • Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce)
  • French (commerce)
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 74.3%
  • Male: 83.4%
  • Female: 65.3%