Demographics of Equatorial Guinea

Evolution of the Ecuadorian population between 1960 and 2017. Population data in hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

Equatorial Guinea has a young population (45% under 15 years of age) with a birth rate of around 42 per thousand and a mortality rate of 16 per thousand. Life expectancy is 49 years for men and 53 for women. Only 4% of the population is over 65 years of age.

The adult literacy rate was 52% in 1992.

Most of the population lives in rural areas.

Demographic profile

Pyramid of the population of Equatorial Guinea in 2020.

Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest and least populated countries in continental Africa and is the only independent African country where Spanish is the official language. Despite the boom in oil production in the 1990s, authoritarianism, corruption and mismanagement of resources have concentrated profits in a small elite. These practices have perpetuated income inequality and unbalanced development, such as low public spending on education and health. Unemployment remains a problem because the oil-dominated economy employs a small workforce that depends on skilled foreign workers. The agricultural sector, the main employer in Equatorial Guinea, continues to deteriorate due to lack of investment and the migration of rural workers to urban areas. About three quarters of the population live below the poverty line.

Equatorial Guinea's large and growing youth population - about 60% are under 25 years of age - is particularly affected because job creation in non-oil sectors is limited, and young people often do not have the necessary skills in the job market. Equatoguinean children often enter school late, have low attendance and a high dropout rate. Thousands of Equatorial Guineans fled across the Gabonese border in the 1970s to escape the dictatorship of MACIAS NGUEMA; smaller numbers have followed in subsequent decades. Continued uneven economic growth and high youth unemployment increase the likelihood of ethnic and regional violence.

Ethnic groups

The indigenous population, which represents 99% of the population, is essentially Bantu (fang) in the Continental Region or Río Muni and Bubi in Bioko. The main ethnic groups are distributed as follows: Fang (72% of the population, in the Continental Region), Bubi (15%, in Bioko), Fernandino (descendants of escapees from slave ships and from the West African coast, in Bioko), Annobonese (Annobon Island), and the Bisio and Ndowé ethnic groups on the mainland, along with other small minorities of Nigerian and Cameroonian immigrants. There is also a minority of around 25,000 Europeans with a Spanish majority. Plus there are mixed races.

Languages

The official languages are Spanish, French (since 1998; due to its integration into the Central African Economic and Monetary Community) and Portuguese (since 2007, to obtain full membership of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries); although none of them is spoken more than fang (spoken practically throughout the region), bubi (Bioko), Igbo and picinglis (a creole language based on English), also in Bioko. In the Coastal Zone of the Continental Region (Río Muni) ndowé (kombe, balengue, buikos, etc, etc,...) and bisió (bujeba) are spoken. Benga is spoken in Corisco and in some coastal towns in Mbini and Kogo. Annobonense, a local language based on Portuguese, is spoken on the island of Annobón.

Religion

The vast majority of the population is Catholic (80'1%), although other Christian religions are professed (6'8%), religions of the ancient inhabitants such as animism (9'1%) and there is an Islamic minority (4%).

Cities

Two cities stand out: Malabo, capital of the state with 230,600 inhabitants, located in Bioko; and Bata, a city in the continental region with 211,700 inhabitants. A new large city is being built, Oyala-Ciudad de la Paz, which will be the future capital of the nation and which is expected to have up to 200,000 inhabitants.

Names

Equatorial Guineans usually have a Spanish name and an African name. When they write it, the Spanish name is followed by the African name and by the father's and mother's surnames. But today Equatorial Guineans can name their children whatever they want.

It should be noted that, in certain cases, the surnames are actually the African names of the parents and not their surnames, which follow the same pattern. This occurs mainly within the Fang ethnic group, in the most internal regions of the country such as Mongomo, which did not have a strong Spanish colonization. A well-known example is that of the politician Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is the son of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Constancia Mangue Nsue Okomo.

Another curiosity is that of the Fernandinos, who stand out from the rest because their surnames are European, mainly of Spanish or English origin.

Health

In December 2003, the Ministry of Health recognized the existence in the country of 15,000 people affected by AIDS, with a higher incidence among young people, who represent 80% of the total. In 2005 the number of those affected had risen to 30,450.

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook

According to data from the CIA World Factbook, these are some of the results.

Population:
540,109 (est. July 2006) (men: 263,883; women: 276,226)
551 201 (est. July 2007)
616,459 (est. Jul 2008)
Note: In the 2002 census, the result was about 1,015,000 residents. [1].

Age distribution:
0-14 years: 41.7% (men 113,083; women 111,989)
15-64 years: 54.5% (men 141,914; women 152,645)
65 years and older: 3.8% (men 8,886; women 11,592)
(est. 2006)

Population growth rate:
2.05% (2006 est.)

Births:
35.59 births / 1000 inhabitants (est. 2006)