Demographic profile
Gambia is the 142nd most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.03% of everyone alive. Within Western Africa, it ranks 14 of 16.
Each day brings roughly 279 births and 69 deaths, adding about 76,700 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 2.7% annually, the population would double in roughly 26 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 North Bank, holding an estimated 39.8% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 5 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 55.0% and adult smoking prevalence around 8.0%, with life expectancy at about 53.2 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 Gambia in 2026? Approximately 2,835,811 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Gambia growing? About 2.7% per year — roughly 279 births and 69 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Gambia? Around 0.03% — ranked 142 worldwide by population.