Cameroon Demographics: Median age, Gender, Religion

Median age history and projection chart in
Cameroon vs World

Table

Year	Median age
	Cameroon	World
1960	20.5	22.5
1961	20.3	22.5
1962	20.1	22.4
1963	20.1	22.2
1964	20	22
1965	19.9	21.8
1966	19.8	21.7
1967	19.7	21.6
1968	19.5	21.5
1969	19.4	21.5
1970	19.2	21.4
1971	19	21.4
1972	18.9	21.5
1973	18.8	21.5
1974	18.6	21.6
1975	18.5	21.7
1976	18.3	21.9
1977	18.2	22
1978	18	22.2
1979	17.9	22.3
1980	17.8	22.5
1981	17.8	22.6
1982	17.5	22.7
1983	17.3	22.9
1984	17.1	23
1985	17.1	23.2
1986	17	23.3
1987	16.9	23.4
1988	16.9	23.6
1989	16.8	23.8
1990	16.8	23.9
1991	16.8	24.1
1992	16.8	24.3
1993	16.8	24.5
1994	16.9	24.7
1995	16.9	25
1996	17	25.2
1997	17.1	25.4
1998	17.1	25.7
1999	17.2	25.9
2000	17.3	26.1
2001	17.4	26.3
2002	17.5	26.5
2003	17.5	26.7
2004	17.6	27
2005	17.6	27.2
2006	17.7	27.4
2007	17.7	27.6
2008	17.8	27.8
2009	17.8	28
2010	17.9	28.2
2011	17.9	28.4
2012	18	28.6
2013	18.1	28.9
2014	18.2	29.1
2015	18.3	29.3
2016	18.3	29.5
2017	18.4	29.8
2018	18.4	30
2019	18.5	30.3
2020	18.5	30.6
2021	18.6	30.8
2022	18.7	31
2023	18.8	31.3
2024	19	31.6
2025	19.1	31.9
2026	19.2	32.1
2027	19.4	32.3
2028	19.6	32.6
2029	19.7	32.8
2030	19.9	33
2031	20.1	33.2
2032	20.3	33.4
2033	20.5	33.6
2034	20.7	33.8
2035	20.9	34
2036	21	34.2
2037	21.3	34.4
2038	21.5	34.6
2039	21.7	34.8
2040	21.9	35
2041	22.1	35.2
2042	22.4	35.4
2043	22.6	35.6
2044	22.8	35.8
2045	23	36
2046	23.2	36.2
2047	23.4	36.4
2048	23.6	36.6
2049	23.9	36.8
2050	24.1	37.1

In 1960, the median age in Cameroon was 20.5 years compared to the world's average of 22.5 years. As of 2024, the median age had decreased to 19 years compared to the world's average of 31.6 years. Ranked 79th for median age 64 years ago (old to young), Cameroon ranks 180th currently.

According to the United Nations projections, the median age in Cameroon is expected to increase to around 24.1 years by 2050. The aging demographics forecast is based on previous years' birth rates and increasing life expectancy.

Cameroon demographic pyramid: age and gender distribution

Table

Age range	Share of population
	Cameroon
	Male	Female
0-4	7.7%	7.56%
5-9	7.03%	6.92%
10-14	6.15%	6.09%
15-19	5.41%	5.39%
20-24	4.52%	4.52%
25-29	3.85%	3.88%
30-34	3.42%	3.45%
35-39	2.92%	2.96%
40-44	2.39%	2.43%
45-49	1.88%	1.92%
50-54	1.46%	1.51%
55-59	1.07%	1.14%
60-64	0.78%	0.86%
65-69	0.56%	0.64%
70-74	0.35%	0.43%
75-79	0.2%	0.27%
80+	0.14%	0.21%

The chart above is a variation of the population pyramid and represents the age and gender structure. Cameroon has high demographic potential with 75.9% of people in the 0-34 age group (ranked 20/196).

Age dependency chart

Table

Year	Age dependency ratio
	Cameroon			World
	Total	Young	Old	Total	Young	Old
1960	76.9%	69.9%	6.92%	73.5%	64.9%	8.62%
1961	78.1%	71.1%	7%	73.8%	65.1%	8.67%
1962	79%	72%	7.08%	74.1%	65.4%	8.73%
1963	79.8%	72.7%	7.15%	74.9%	66.1%	8.79%
1964	80.7%	73.5%	7.23%	75.5%	66.6%	8.85%
1965	81.6%	74.3%	7.29%	75.8%	66.8%	8.93%
1966	82.3%	75%	7.35%	75.9%	66.9%	9%
1967	83.1%	75.7%	7.4%	75.9%	66.8%	9.07%
1968	83.8%	76.4%	7.44%	75.8%	66.6%	9.14%
1969	84.7%	77.2%	7.48%	75.7%	66.5%	9.2%
1970	85.5%	78%	7.52%	75.5%	66.2%	9.26%
1971	86.3%	78.8%	7.55%	75.2%	65.9%	9.33%
1972	87.2%	79.6%	7.58%	74.9%	65.6%	9.39%
1973	88%	80.4%	7.6%	74.6%	65.1%	9.46%
1974	88.8%	81.2%	7.62%	74.4%	64.9%	9.54%
1975	89.6%	82%	7.63%	74.2%	64.6%	9.64%
1976	90.6%	82.9%	7.64%	74%	64.3%	9.72%
1977	91.7%	84%	7.66%	73.5%	63.7%	9.79%
1978	92.7%	85%	7.66%	72.4%	62.5%	9.84%
1979	93.6%	86%	7.65%	71.3%	61.4%	9.88%
1980	94%	86.4%	7.6%	70.4%	60.5%	9.89%
1981	94%	86.5%	7.53%	69.5%	59.6%	9.85%
1982	95.7%	88.1%	7.55%	68.7%	58.9%	9.79%
1983	97.6%	90%	7.59%	67.9%	58.1%	9.72%
1984	98.2%	90.7%	7.57%	67%	57.3%	9.68%
1985	98.5%	91%	7.52%	66.3%	56.6%	9.68%
1986	98.7%	91.3%	7.47%	65.7%	55.9%	9.71%
1987	98.9%	91.5%	7.41%	65.2%	55.4%	9.75%
1988	99.1%	91.7%	7.36%	64.8%	54.9%	9.81%
1989	99.2%	91.9%	7.3%	64.4%	54.5%	9.89%
1990	99.2%	92%	7.24%	64.2%	54.3%	9.97%
1991	99.2%	92%	7.17%	64%	53.9%	10.1%
1992	99%	91.9%	7.1%	63.7%	53.6%	10.2%
1993	98.6%	91.6%	7.02%	63.5%	53.2%	10.3%
1994	98.1%	91.2%	6.95%	63.1%	52.7%	10.4%
1995	97.5%	90.7%	6.86%	62.7%	52.2%	10.5%
1996	96.7%	89.9%	6.78%	62.1%	51.5%	10.6%
1997	95.7%	89%	6.69%	61.5%	50.8%	10.7%
1998	94.7%	88.1%	6.6%	60.7%	50%	10.7%
1999	93.9%	87.4%	6.51%	60%	49.2%	10.8%
2000	93.2%	86.7%	6.43%	59.3%	48.4%	10.9%
2001	92.3%	86%	6.34%	58.5%	47.6%	11%
2002	91.5%	85.2%	6.26%	57.8%	46.7%	11.1%
2003	90.7%	84.5%	6.18%	57%	45.9%	11.1%
2004	90.1%	84%	6.1%	56.3%	45.1%	11.2%
2005	89.6%	83.6%	6.01%	55.6%	44.3%	11.3%
2006	89.1%	83.2%	5.93%	55%	43.6%	11.4%
2007	88.7%	82.9%	5.85%	54.5%	43.1%	11.4%
2008	88.3%	82.5%	5.78%	54.1%	42.6%	11.5%
2009	87.9%	82.2%	5.71%	53.8%	42.2%	11.6%
2010	87.6%	82%	5.64%	53.5%	41.9%	11.6%
2011	87.4%	81.8%	5.58%	53.4%	41.6%	11.8%
2012	87.1%	81.6%	5.52%	53.3%	41.4%	11.9%
2013	86.7%	81.3%	5.44%	53.4%	41.2%	12.1%
2014	86%	80.7%	5.35%	53.5%	41.1%	12.4%
2015	85.2%	79.9%	5.27%	53.6%	40.9%	12.7%
2016	84.7%	79.5%	5.21%	53.7%	40.7%	13%
2017	84.5%	79.3%	5.17%	53.9%	40.6%	13.3%
2018	84.1%	79%	5.14%	54.1%	40.4%	13.7%
2019	83.6%	78.5%	5.11%	54.2%	40.1%	14%
2020	82.9%	77.8%	5.08%	54.2%	39.8%	14.4%
2021	82.1%	77.1%	5.04%	54.2%	39.5%	14.7%
2022	81.2%	76.2%	5.01%	54%	39%	15%
2023	80.3%	75.3%	5%	53.9%	38.5%	15.4%
2024	79.3%	74.3%	5.01%	53.7%	38%	15.7%

Age dependency is the ratio of people not in the labor force (children under 15 and adults 64+) to people aged 15 to 64. Age dependency in Cameroon decreased from 90.1% to 79.3% between 2004 and 2024 with a decreased share of children and an decreased proportion of people aged 65+

Cameroon working age demographic chart

Table

Year	Working age population share
	Cameroon	World
1960	56.5%	57.6%
1961	56.2%	57.5%
1962	55.9%	57.4%
1963	55.6%	57.2%
1964	55.3%	57%
1965	55.1%	56.9%
1966	54.9%	56.8%
1967	54.6%	56.9%
1968	54.4%	56.9%
1969	54.2%	56.9%
1970	53.9%	57%
1971	53.7%	57.1%
1972	53.4%	57.2%
1973	53.2%	57.3%
1974	53%	57.3%
1975	52.7%	57.4%
1976	52.5%	57.5%
1977	52.2%	57.7%
1978	51.9%	58%
1979	51.6%	58.4%
1980	51.6%	58.7%
1981	51.5%	59%
1982	51.1%	59.3%
1983	50.6%	59.6%
1984	50.4%	59.9%
1985	50.4%	60.1%
1986	50.3%	60.4%
1987	50.3%	60.5%
1988	50.2%	60.7%
1989	50.2%	60.8%
1990	50.2%	60.9%
1991	50.2%	61%
1992	50.3%	61.1%
1993	50.3%	61.2%
1994	50.5%	61.3%
1995	50.6%	61.5%
1996	50.8%	61.7%
1997	51.1%	61.9%
1998	51.4%	62.2%
1999	51.6%	62.5%
2000	51.8%	62.8%
2001	52%	63.1%
2002	52.2%	63.4%
2003	52.4%	63.7%
2004	52.6%	64%
2005	52.8%	64.3%
2006	52.9%	64.5%
2007	53%	64.7%
2008	53.1%	64.9%
2009	53.2%	65%
2010	53.3%	65.1%
2011	53.4%	65.2%
2012	53.4%	65.2%
2013	53.6%	65.2%
2014	53.8%	65.2%
2015	54%	65.1%
2016	54.1%	65.1%
2017	54.2%	65%
2018	54.3%	64.9%
2019	54.5%	64.9%
2020	54.7%	64.8%
2021	54.9%	64.9%
2022	55.2%	64.9%
2023	55.5%	65%
2024	55.8%	65.1%
2025	56.1%	65.2%
2026	56.4%	65.3%
2027	56.7%	65.4%
2028	56.9%	65.4%
2029	57.2%	65.4%
2030	57.5%	65.4%
2031	57.9%	65.4%
2032	58.2%	65.4%
2033	58.6%	65.4%
2034	58.9%	65.3%
2035	59.2%	65.2%
2036	59.5%	65%
2037	59.8%	64.9%
2038	60%	64.7%
2039	60.2%	64.6%
2040	60.5%	64.5%
2041	60.7%	64.4%
2042	60.9%	64.3%
2043	61.1%	64.2%
2044	61.3%	64.1%
2045	61.5%	63.9%
2046	61.7%	63.8%
2047	61.9%	63.7%
2048	62%	63.6%
2049	62.2%	63.4%
2050	62.4%	63.3%

The share of working-age demographics aged 15-64 in Cameroon changed from 52.6% to 55.8% between 2004 and 2024.

Share of young population (0-14 years)

Table

Year	Share of population 0-14 years old
	Cameroon	World
1960	39.5%	37.4%
1961	39.9%	37.5%
1962	40.2%	37.6%
1963	40.4%	37.8%
1964	40.7%	38%
1965	40.9%	38%
1966	41.1%	38%
1967	41.3%	38%
1968	41.6%	37.9%
1969	41.8%	37.8%
1970	42%	37.7%
1971	42.3%	37.6%
1972	42.5%	37.5%
1973	42.8%	37.3%
1974	43%	37.2%
1975	43.2%	37.1%
1976	43.5%	36.9%
1977	43.8%	36.7%
1978	44.1%	36.3%
1979	44.4%	35.9%
1980	44.5%	35.5%
1981	44.6%	35.2%
1982	45%	34.9%
1983	45.6%	34.6%
1984	45.7%	34.3%
1985	45.8%	34%
1986	45.9%	33.8%
1987	46%	33.6%
1988	46.1%	33.4%
1989	46.1%	33.2%
1990	46.2%	33%
1991	46.2%	32.9%
1992	46.2%	32.7%
1993	46.1%	32.5%
1994	46%	32.3%
1995	45.9%	32.1%
1996	45.7%	31.8%
1997	45.5%	31.5%
1998	45.3%	31.1%
1999	45.1%	30.8%
2000	44.9%	30.4%
2001	44.7%	30%
2002	44.5%	29.6%
2003	44.3%	29.2%
2004	44.2%	28.8%
2005	44.1%	28.5%
2006	44%	28.1%
2007	43.9%	27.9%
2008	43.8%	27.6%
2009	43.8%	27.5%
2010	43.7%	27.3%
2011	43.7%	27.1%
2012	43.6%	27%
2013	43.5%	26.9%
2014	43.4%	26.8%
2015	43.2%	26.6%
2016	43%	26.5%
2017	43%	26.4%
2018	42.9%	26.2%
2019	42.7%	26%
2020	42.5%	25.8%
2021	42.3%	25.6%
2022	42.1%	25.3%
2023	41.8%	25%
2024	41.4%	24.7%
2025	41.1%	24.4%
2026	40.8%	24.1%
2027	40.5%	23.8%
2028	40.1%	23.4%
2029	39.8%	23.1%
2030	39.5%	22.8%
2031	39.1%	22.6%
2032	38.7%	22.3%
2033	38.3%	22.1%
2034	37.9%	21.9%
2035	37.5%	21.7%
2036	37.2%	21.6%
2037	36.8%	21.5%
2038	36.5%	21.4%
2039	36.2%	21.3%
2040	35.9%	21.2%
2041	35.6%	21.1%
2042	35.3%	21%
2043	35%	21%
2044	34.7%	20.9%
2045	34.4%	20.8%
2046	34.1%	20.7%
2047	33.8%	20.7%
2048	33.5%	20.6%
2049	33.2%	20.5%
2050	32.9%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in Cameroon decreased from 44.2% to 41.4% between 2004 and 2024 due to changes in birth rates.

Share of old population (65+)

Table

Year	Share of population 65+ years old
	Cameroon	World
1960	3.91%	4.97%
1961	3.93%	4.99%
1962	3.95%	5.01%
1963	3.98%	5.02%
1964	4%	5.04%
1965	4.02%	5.08%
1966	4.03%	5.12%
1967	4.04%	5.16%
1968	4.05%	5.2%
1969	4.05%	5.24%
1970	4.05%	5.28%
1971	4.05%	5.32%
1972	4.05%	5.37%
1973	4.04%	5.42%
1974	4.03%	5.47%
1975	4.02%	5.53%
1976	4.01%	5.59%
1977	3.99%	5.65%
1978	3.98%	5.71%
1979	3.95%	5.77%
1980	3.92%	5.81%
1981	3.88%	5.81%
1982	3.86%	5.8%
1983	3.84%	5.79%
1984	3.82%	5.8%
1985	3.79%	5.82%
1986	3.76%	5.86%
1987	3.73%	5.91%
1988	3.7%	5.95%
1989	3.66%	6.01%
1990	3.63%	6.07%
1991	3.6%	6.14%
1992	3.57%	6.21%
1993	3.54%	6.29%
1994	3.51%	6.37%
1995	3.47%	6.45%
1996	3.45%	6.53%
1997	3.42%	6.61%
1998	3.39%	6.68%
1999	3.36%	6.76%
2000	3.33%	6.84%
2001	3.3%	6.92%
2002	3.27%	7.01%
2003	3.24%	7.1%
2004	3.21%	7.18%
2005	3.17%	7.26%
2006	3.14%	7.34%
2007	3.1%	7.41%
2008	3.07%	7.47%
2009	3.04%	7.52%
2010	3.01%	7.58%
2011	2.98%	7.66%
2012	2.95%	7.78%
2013	2.91%	7.92%
2014	2.88%	8.08%
2015	2.85%	8.26%
2016	2.82%	8.45%
2017	2.8%	8.65%
2018	2.79%	8.88%
2019	2.78%	9.1%
2020	2.78%	9.33%
2021	2.77%	9.53%
2022	2.76%	9.74%
2023	2.77%	9.98%
2024	2.79%	10.2%
2025	2.82%	10.4%
2026	2.84%	10.6%
2027	2.87%	10.8%
2028	2.9%	11.1%
2029	2.94%	11.5%
2030	2.97%	11.7%
2031	3.02%	12%
2032	3.06%	12.3%
2033	3.12%	12.6%
2034	3.18%	12.8%
2035	3.25%	13.1%
2036	3.33%	13.4%
2037	3.4%	13.7%
2038	3.48%	13.9%
2039	3.57%	14.1%
2040	3.65%	14.3%
2041	3.74%	14.5%
2042	3.83%	14.7%
2043	3.93%	14.9%
2044	4.04%	15%
2045	4.14%	15.2%
2046	4.26%	15.4%
2047	4.38%	15.7%
2048	4.51%	15.9%
2049	4.63%	16.1%
2050	4.75%	16.3%

The share of older people aged 65 and over in Cameroon decreased from 3.21% to 2.79% between 2004 and 2024 due to changes in life expectancy.