Demographic profile
Rwanda is the 77th most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.18% of everyone alive. Within Eastern Africa, it ranks 11 of 20.
Each day brings roughly 1,339 births and 309 deaths, adding about 376,199 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 2.5% annually, the population would double in roughly 28 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 Northern, holding an estimated 44.3% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 4 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 70.0% and adult smoking prevalence around 9.0%, with life expectancy at about 39.3 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 Rwanda in 2026? Approximately 15,054,976 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Rwanda growing? About 2.5% per year — roughly 1,339 births and 309 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Rwanda? Around 0.18% — ranked 77 worldwide by population.