Demographic profile
Somalia is the 71st most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.22% of everyone alive. Within Eastern Africa, it ranks 9 of 20.
Each day brings roughly 1,634 births and 377 deaths, adding about 459,109 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 Middle Juba, holding an estimated 23.7% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 18 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 46.2 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 Somalia in 2026? Approximately 18,366,808 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Somalia growing? About 2.5% per year — roughly 1,634 births and 377 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Somalia? Around 0.22% — ranked 71 worldwide by population.