Statizoid

Population in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: Population was 16.34 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
16.34 million people
Change on year
up 1.7%
World rank
74th
of 238 countries
All-time high
16.34 million people
in 2023
All-time low
170,000 people
in 1000
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Zimbabwe, 1000–2023

05.0M10.0M15.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

In 2023, population in Zimbabwe stood at 16.34 million people. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 16.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Zimbabwe peaked at 16.34 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 170,000 people, in 1000.

Zimbabwe ranks 74th of 238 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 170,000 people 170,000 people 170,000 people 1
1100s 170,000 people 170,000 people 170,000 people 1
1200s 170,000 people 170,000 people 170,000 people 1
1300s 170,000 people 170,000 people 170,000 people 1
1400s 170,000 people 170,000 people 170,000 people 1
1500s 340,000 people 340,000 people 340,000 people 1
1600s 368,900 people 368,900 people 368,900 people 1
1700s 397,800 people 397,800 people 397,800 people 1
1710s 404,601 people 404,601 people 404,601 people 1
1720s 412,333 people 412,333 people 412,333 people 1
1730s 420,561 people 420,561 people 420,561 people 1
1740s 429,343 people 429,343 people 429,343 people 1
1750s 438,745 people 438,745 people 438,745 people 1
1760s 448,844 people 448,844 people 448,844 people 1
1770s 459,732 people 459,732 people 459,732 people 1
1780s 471,520 people 471,520 people 471,520 people 1
1790s 484,341 people 484,341 people 484,341 people 1
1800s 1.09 million people 1.09 million people 1.09 million people 10
1810s 1.09 million people 1.08 million people 1.09 million people 10
1820s 1.01 million people 937,846 people 1.08 million people 10
1830s 858,333 people 796,728 people 922,676 people 10
1840s 729,529 people 680,342 people 783,841 people 10
1850s 698,676 people 676,113 people 729,610 people 10
1860s 771,918 people 737,069 people 807,725 people 10
1870s 854,563 people 815,983 people 894,203 people 10
1880s 946,054 people 903,344 people 989,938 people 10
1890s 1.05 million people 1.00 million people 1.10 million people 10
1900s 1.19 million people 1.11 million people 1.28 million people 10
1910s 1.40 million people 1.30 million people 1.50 million people 10
1920s 1.68 million people 1.53 million people 1.84 million people 10
1930s 2.06 million people 1.87 million people 2.25 million people 10
1940s 2.50 million people 2.29 million people 2.73 million people 10
1950s 3.22 million people 2.79 million people 3.69 million people 10
1960s 4.41 million people 3.81 million people 5.06 million people 10
1970s 5.98 million people 5.22 million people 6.65 million people 10
1980s 8.52 million people 7.04 million people 9.86 million people 10
1990s 10.99 million people 10.14 million people 11.78 million people 10
2000s 12.46 million people 11.89 million people 13.14 million people 10
2010s 14.31 million people 13.36 million people 15.27 million people 10
2020s 15.93 million people 15.53 million people 16.34 million people 4

Countries ranked near Zimbabwe

  1. 71 Senegal 18.08 million people compare
  2. 72 Ecuador 17.98 million people compare
  3. 73 Cambodia 17.42 million people compare
  4. 75 Guinea 14.41 million people compare
  5. 76 Benin 14.11 million people compare
  6. 77 Rwanda 13.95 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Zimbabwe

All data for Zimbabwe →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Zimbabwe?
Population in Zimbabwe was 16.34 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Zimbabwe?
The highest recorded value was 16.34 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Zimbabwe?
The lowest recorded value was 170,000 people in 1000.
How does Zimbabwe rank for population?
Zimbabwe ranks 74th out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
Over the last ten years it is up 16.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Zimbabwe data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.