Demographic profile
Eritrea is the 133rd most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.04% of everyone alive. Within Eastern Africa, it ranks 14 of 20.
Each day brings roughly 281 births and 69 deaths, adding about 77,431 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 2.12% annually, the population would double in roughly 33 years if the rate held. Real trajectories bend as fertility, mortality and migration shift, which is why the chart below shows both history and projection.
Among its first-level divisions, the largest by our modelled allocation is Anseba, holding an estimated 36.7% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 6 states and regions is in the table below — regional figures outside Sudan are modelled estimates built on real region names, and are flagged as such.
Literacy stands near 76.6% and adult smoking prevalence around 7.5%, with life expectancy at about 55.8 years. Baselines come from UN World Population Prospects, the World Bank, WHO surveys, WorldPop and HDX; the counters project them forward in real time — the method, and every caveat, is documented on our data sources page.
Quick answers
What is the population of Eritrea in 2026? Approximately 3,657,520 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Eritrea growing? About 2.12% per year — roughly 281 births and 69 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Eritrea? Around 0.04% — ranked 133 worldwide by population.