The demographic profile of Cameroon is complex for a country of its population. Cameroon comprises an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions: 113,000 Igbo people live in Cameroon. The Cameroon government held two national censuses during the country's first 44 years as an independent country, in 1976 and again in 1987. Results from the second head count were never published. A third census, expected to take years to produce results, began on November 11, 2005, with a three-week interviewing phase. It is one of a series of projects and reforms required by the International Monetary Fund as prerequisites for foreign debt relief. The first results were published in 2010.

Population

According to the total population was in, compared to only 4 466 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.6%, 55.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.5% was 65 years or older. Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.I.2010) (Data refer to national projections.): Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019) (Source: Population projections and estimates of priority targets for the various health programs and interventions, National Institute of Statistics (2016).):

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2011 (DHS Program):

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Cameroon not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Ethnic groups

Languages

There are 24 major African language groups in Cameroon; additionally, English and French are official languages. Cameroonian Pidgin English is also widely spoken. Peoples concentrated in the Southwest and Northwest Provinces—around Buea and Bamenda—use standard English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, as well as their local languages. In the three northern provinces—Adamawa, North, and Far North—either French or Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani) is widely spoken. Elsewhere, French is the principal second language, although pidgin and some local languages such as Ewondo, the dialect of a Beti clan from the Yaoundé area, have a wide currency. In Far North Region the northernmost constituent province of Cameroon, Mafa Language Arab Shuwa (an Arab dialect) and is spoken by the Baggara Arabs (also called Arab Shuwa). Indigenous languages of Cameroon include:

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

Religion

Roman Catholic 38.3%, Protestant 25.5%, other Christian 6.9%, Muslim 24.4%, animist 2.2%, other 0.5%, none 2.2% (2018 est.)

Age structure

Birth rate

Death rate

Total fertility rate

Net migration rate

Mother's mean age at first birth

Median age

Population growth rate

Urbanization

Sex ratio

Life expectancy at birth

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Dependency ratios

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

HIV/AIDS

Major infectious diseases

Nationality

Literacy

Education expenditure