Burundi Flag

Burundi

Capital:
Bujumbura
Continent:
Africa
Largest Cities:
Bujumbura
Abbreviation:
BDI

14.4M
Total Population
78
Population Rank
560.36
Density (km²)
342.2K 2.67%
Annual Population Growth

Population of Burundi

Burundi's population structure shows a nearly equal male to female ratio of 0.99 to 1, with a median male age of 16.89 years old and a median female age of 17.40 years old. The highest concentration of adults under 75 years old is in the 18 and 19 year-old age groups, while the lowest concentration is in the 74 and 73 year-old age groups.

Burundi Population

Data after 2022 is projected based on recent change

Burundi Population Clock

Burundi Population*
14,262,041
Births per Day
1,283
Deaths per Day
261
Emigrations per Day
95
Net Change per Day
927
2025 Population Change*
39,861

* As of 2/12/2025

1 birth

Every 1.1 minutes

1 death

Every 5.5 minutes

1 emigrant

Every 15.2 minutes

1 person

Every 1.6 minutes

Population by City

City
2025 Pop.
Bujumbura331,700

Burundi Overview

Burundi Demographics

The Tutsi, Hutu and Twa people have inhabited the area for at least 500 years. About 85% of Burundians are of Hutu origin, 15% are Tutsi and less than 1% are indigenous Twa or Pygmies.

Today, about 500,000 people in Burundi have been displaced due to the effects of AIDS, which has impacted the country significantly. Many people from Burundi have migrated to nearby countries due to civil war. In 2006, the U.S. accepted about 10,000 Burundian refugees.

Much of Burundi remains rural, and only 13% of the country lives in an urban area. Just over 1% of the population has electricity, and only 50% of children go to school. About 1 in 15 adults in Burundi have HIV/AIDS. The AIDS epidemic in the country has dramatically affected its demographics, displacing more than 500,000.

Burundi Religion, Economy and Politics

Burundi is a fairly religiously diverse country, but 86% of the population practices some form of Christianity. Within the Christian population, 62.1% are Roman Catholic, and 23.9% are Protestant. Aside from Christianity, numbers vary about estimates of the populations of other religions. Muslims make up for anywhere from 2.5-10% of the population, while there remaining portion practice a variety of other religions.

As a landlocked nation, Burundi has a hard time accessing many resources and is generally pretty underdeveloped. The largest industry in Burundi is agriculture, which makes up for 32.9% of their GDP, and employs over 70% of the population. Even though they produce a lot of food, overpopulation, and a generally poor economy has kept much of the population hungry and is, in fact, the world’s hungriest country with 40% of the country needing more to eat. Burundi is one of the 5 poorest countries in the world with one of the lowest per capita GDPs. It has suffered from many problems, including limited education, widespread corruption, and warfare.

Burundi Population History

The distinct Burundian kingdom emerged during the 1500s and there were no major disruptions until Germany and Belgian forces began to occupy the land in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1959, there was a massive influx of refugees from the Ruandam half of the land due to ethnically-related violence there.

Urundi seceded in 1962 and the country became an independent kingdom the name of of the country changed to Burundi. Settling into their own was not easy, and over 120,000 Hutus were massacred by the government in 1972 over political issues. This kind of civil unrest has been fairly constant ever since, and an ethnic-based war that has gone on for more than ten years has killed about 200,000 people, displaced 140,000 internally, and forced about 48,000 refugees into Tanzania.