Country or area · Northern Africa · Africa · UN WPP 2024

Western Sahara population

Western Sahara population now

613,184

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line. 95% range for 31 December 2026: 593,183–637,422.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 579,729

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 610,810; 95% range, 31 Dec: 593,183–637,422
Median age: 33.8
Aged 65+: 7.0%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2089

male female projection · one cell = 100 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

ESH · 1950–2100 · in brief

Western Sahara in numbers

579,729 people lived in Western Sahara in mid-2023: less than 0.01% of the world's people, and the 172nd-largest population of the 236 countries and areas the UN reports. That is 44.7 times its 1950 population of 12,960.

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2089 at 837 thousand, then falling to 831 thousand by 2100. The projection is uncertain: on 1 January 2100 the UN's 95% range runs from 68,991 to 14.9 million.

Births stay ahead of deaths until 2064; in the medium projection, deaths are ahead every year after it. The population still grows until 2089, because more people arrive than leave.

The median age was 19.3 in 1950 and 33.0 in 2023; the projection has 43.9 in 2100. 6.3% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 23.8% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2074 at 531 thousand.

Its place in the world by population: 172nd in 2023, 169th in 2050, 167th in 2100. In the medium projection it overtakes Montenegro in 2028, Suriname in 2036 and Macao in 2039. It is overtaken by Mayotte in 2062 and Vanuatu in 2093.

Population, mid-2023: 579,729
Rank by population, 2023: 172 of 236
Share of the world, 2023: less than 0.01%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.93% · +10,991 people
Births, 2023: 8,987
Deaths, 2023: 3,678
Net migration, 2023: +5,606
Children per woman, 2023: 2.16
Median age, 2023: 33.0 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 71.4 years
In a city, 2025: 55 of every 100
Population, mid-1950: 12,960
Projected, mid-2050: 777,315
Projected, mid-2100: 831,294

ESH · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2089estimates | projections02.5 m5 m7.5 m10 m12.5 m15 m1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection, up to the bottom of the 95% range 95% range medium projection. Every column stands for a single year, counted on 1 January, and the paper rules slice it into cells of equal size.

Show the numbers: Western Sahara, 1950–2100

Western Sahara: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	95% range	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	12,371		564	355	6.01	34.9
1951	estimate	13,549		661	382	6.05	35.3
1952	estimate	14,859		763	418	6.08	35.6
1953	estimate	16,209		869	459	6.12	36.0
1954	estimate	17,727		979	504	6.15	36.4
1955	estimate	19,340		1,093	550	6.19	36.8
1956	estimate	21,075		1,208	597	6.22	37.2
1957	estimate	22,930		1,324	645	6.24	37.6
1958	estimate	24,873		1,453	695	6.30	37.9
1959	estimate	26,959		1,580	746	6.35	38.3
1960	estimate	29,166		1,712	798	6.41	38.7
1961	estimate	31,490		1,843	850	6.46	39.1
1962	estimate	33,961		1,977	903	6.51	39.5
1963	estimate	36,545		2,099	954	6.52	39.8
1964	estimate	39,247		2,217	1,004	6.52	40.2
1965	estimate	42,070		2,335	1,053	6.51	40.6
1966	estimate	44,994		2,459	1,103	6.53	41.0
1967	estimate	48,048		2,574	1,151	6.51	41.4
1968	estimate	53,200		2,867	1,253	6.48	41.8
1969	estimate	58,768		3,167	1,364	6.43	42.2
1970	estimate	64,520		3,460	1,473	6.37	42.7
1971	estimate	78,935		3,269	1,621	6.32	42.9
1972	estimate	78,506		3,211	1,597	6.29	43.5
1973	estimate	77,993		3,172	1,544	6.25	44.2
1974	estimate	77,299		3,155	1,474	6.22	45.0
1975	estimate	75,656		3,108	1,970	6.20	36.0
1976	estimate	58,123		2,426	1,491	6.18	36.3
1977	estimate	70,855		2,963	1,678	6.12	38.3
1978	estimate	83,922		4,046	1,917	6.05	40.4
1979	estimate	97,859		5,083	2,621	5.96	37.5
1980	estimate	112,104		6,065	2,863	5.86	39.4
1981	estimate	122,645		6,581	2,605	5.71	44.2
1982	estimate	131,147		6,871	2,661	5.60	45.2
1983	estimate	137,815		7,007	2,659	5.52	46.1
1984	estimate	143,354		7,023	2,623	5.44	46.9
1985	estimate	148,946		7,017	2,579	5.36	47.8
1986	estimate	154,573		6,913	2,529	5.22	48.5
1987	estimate	160,155		6,788	2,523	5.08	48.9
1988	estimate	165,601		6,651	2,226	4.94	52.1
1989	estimate	171,215		6,533	2,312	4.81	51.5
1990	estimate	176,631		6,415	1,783	4.69	57.7
1991	estimate	182,457		6,257	1,760	4.54	58.2
1992	estimate	188,144		6,132	1,741	4.40	58.7
1993	estimate	193,732		6,021	1,725	4.27	59.2
1994	estimate	199,215		5,931	1,713	4.15	59.7
1995	estimate	204,621		5,865	1,706	4.05	60.2
1996	estimate	215,228		6,018	1,761	3.94	60.7
1997	estimate	227,546		6,225	1,830	3.83	61.2
1998	estimate	239,999		6,435	1,896	3.72	61.7
1999	estimate	252,608		6,630	1,957	3.61	62.2
2000	estimate	265,331		6,799	2,017	3.49	62.7
2001	estimate	278,556		6,905	2,075	3.34	63.2
2002	estimate	291,820		6,974	2,127	3.19	63.7
2003	estimate	305,107		7,094	2,180	3.07	64.2
2004	estimate	318,461		7,249	2,233	2.96	64.7
2005	estimate	331,918		7,469	2,291	2.89	65.2
2006	estimate	345,480		7,704	2,353	2.83	65.7
2007	estimate	359,815		7,945	2,415	2.77	66.1
2008	estimate	373,908		8,169	2,479	2.72	66.6
2009	estimate	387,737		8,374	2,533	2.67	67.1
2010	estimate	402,177		8,595	2,596	2.63	67.5
2011	estimate	417,254		8,769	2,667	2.59	67.9
2012	estimate	432,920		8,966	2,747	2.55	68.2
2013	estimate	449,141		9,099	2,824	2.50	68.6
2014	estimate	465,707		9,245	2,911	2.46	69.0
2015	estimate	479,451		9,287	2,985	2.42	69.3
2016	estimate	492,993		9,326	3,060	2.38	69.6
2017	estimate	506,308		9,354	3,143	2.35	69.9
2018	estimate	519,378		9,340	3,232	2.32	70.1
2019	estimate	532,186		9,308	3,328	2.28	70.4
2020	estimate	544,694		9,276	3,427	2.25	70.6
2021	estimate	554,036		9,161	3,497	2.22	70.9
2022	estimate	563,202		9,043	3,577	2.19	71.1
2023	estimate	574,275		8,987	3,678	2.16	71.4
2024	estimate	585,183		9,090	3,804	2.18	71.6
2025	projection	595,829	590,058–602,038	9,032	3,914	2.15	71.8
2026	projection	605,978	592,496–618,971	9,008	4,030	2.13	72.0
2027	projection	615,648	593,183–637,422	8,974	4,153	2.11	72.2
2028	projection	625,017	593,308–657,020	8,948	4,282	2.09	72.3
2029	projection	634,150	592,185–679,818	8,939	4,411	2.07	72.5
2030	projection	643,009	590,194–701,214	8,954	4,545	2.06	72.7
2031	projection	651,950	587,331–725,880	8,989	4,682	2.04	72.9
2032	projection	660,398	582,684–749,050	9,027	4,820	2.03	73.0
2033	projection	668,795	577,199–776,035	9,072	4,965	2.01	73.2
2034	projection	676,845	572,763–802,789	9,129	5,107	2.00	73.3
2035	projection	684,356	565,282–832,152	9,181	5,251	1.98	73.5
2036	projection	691,948	558,650–861,702	9,241	5,398	1.97	73.7
2037	projection	699,201	550,774–889,047	9,298	5,543	1.96	73.8
2038	projection	706,107	539,776–923,085	9,349	5,689	1.94	74.0
2039	projection	712,942	531,338–958,286	9,408	5,839	1.93	74.1
2040	projection	719,595	521,152–994,634	9,469	5,986	1.92	74.3
2041	projection	726,134	0.5–1.0 million	9,521	6,128	1.91	74.5
2042	projection	732,658	0.5–1.1 million	9,574	6,271	1.91	74.6
2043	projection	739,004	0.5–1.1 million	9,619	6,411	1.90	74.8
2044	projection	744,977	0.5–1.1 million	9,644	6,561	1.89	74.9
2045	projection	750,674	0.5–1.2 million	9,669	6,706	1.88	75.1
2046	projection	756,162	0.5–1.3 million	9,675	6,851	1.87	75.2
2047	projection	761,244	0.4–1.3 million	9,673	6,992	1.87	75.4
2048	projection	766,132	0.4–1.4 million	9,662	7,138	1.86	75.5
2049	projection	770,478	0.4–1.5 million	9,643	7,287	1.85	75.7
2050	projection	775,108	0.4–1.5 million	9,629	7,432	1.85	75.9
2051	projection	779,523	0.4–1.6 million	9,600	7,578	1.84	76.0
2052	projection	783,669	0.4–1.7 million	9,579	7,729	1.84	76.2
2053	projection	787,820	0.4–1.8 million	9,551	7,880	1.83	76.3
2054	projection	791,703	0.4–1.9 million	9,505	8,023	1.83	76.5
2055	projection	795,411	0.4–2.0 million	9,469	8,171	1.82	76.6
2056	projection	798,735	0.4–2.2 million	9,425	8,321	1.82	76.8
2057	projection	801,645	0.3–2.3 million	9,384	8,459	1.81	76.9
2058	projection	804,484	0.3–2.4 million	9,353	8,593	1.81	77.1
2059	projection	806,934	0.3–2.5 million	9,306	8,723	1.80	77.3
2060	projection	808,938	0.3–2.6 million	9,269	8,850	1.80	77.4
2061	projection	810,969	0.3–2.8 million	9,261	8,970	1.80	77.6
2062	projection	813,111	0.3–2.9 million	9,248	9,090	1.79	77.7
2063	projection	815,004	0.3–3.0 million	9,234	9,182	1.79	77.9
2064	projection	816,663	0.3–3.2 million	9,219	9,271	1.79	78.0
2065	projection	818,238	0.3–3.4 million	9,197	9,354	1.78	78.2
2066	projection	819,771	0.3–3.6 million	9,186	9,426	1.78	78.3
2067	projection	820,978	0.3–3.7 million	9,170	9,484	1.78	78.5
2068	projection	822,264	0.2–3.9 million	9,169	9,531	1.77	78.6
2069	projection	823,156	0.2–4.1 million	9,160	9,561	1.77	78.8
2070	projection	823,811	0.2–4.2 million	9,152	9,585	1.77	78.9
2071	projection	824,775	0.2–4.3 million	9,148	9,594	1.77	79.1
2072	projection	825,224	0.2–4.5 million	9,136	9,579	1.77	79.2
2073	projection	825,978	0.2–4.6 million	9,120	9,574	1.76	79.4
2074	projection	826,992	0.2–4.8 million	9,105	9,544	1.76	79.5
2075	projection	827,824	0.2–5.1 million	9,089	9,511	1.76	79.7
2076	projection	828,654	0.2–5.3 million	9,067	9,475	1.75	79.8
2077	projection	829,518	0.2–5.5 million	9,035	9,437	1.75	79.9
2078	projection	830,204	0.2–5.8 million	9,020	9,384	1.75	80.1
2079	projection	831,386	0.2–6.1 million	9,006	9,346	1.75	80.2
2080	projection	832,231	0.2–6.5 million	8,982	9,300	1.75	80.4
2081	projection	832,984	0.2–6.6 million	8,947	9,271	1.74	80.5
2082	projection	833,674	0.2–6.9 million	8,918	9,234	1.74	80.6
2083	projection	834,383	0.2–7.1 million	8,880	9,201	1.74	80.8
2084	projection	834,871	0.1–7.5 million	8,838	9,185	1.74	80.9
2085	projection	835,259	0.1–7.9 million	8,792	9,178	1.74	81.0
2086	projection	835,561	0.1–8.1 million	8,741	9,170	1.73	81.2
2087	projection	836,151	0.1–8.4 million	8,703	9,180	1.73	81.3
2088	projection	836,344	0.1–8.8 million	8,650	9,189	1.73	81.5
2089	projection	836,657	0.1–9.1 million	8,611	9,204	1.73	81.6
2090	projection	836,591	0.1–9.5 million	8,578	9,220	1.73	81.7
2091	projection	836,496	0.1–9.9 million	8,533	9,251	1.73	81.9
2092	projection	836,334	0.1–10.4 million	8,488	9,289	1.73	82.0
2093	projection	836,062	0.1–10.8 million	8,448	9,324	1.72	82.1
2094	projection	835,557	0.1–11.6 million	8,406	9,369	1.72	82.2
2095	projection	835,014	0.1–12.5 million	8,364	9,415	1.72	82.4
2096	projection	834,410	0.1–13.4 million	8,330	9,459	1.72	82.5
2097	projection	833,956	0.1–13.6 million	8,309	9,503	1.72	82.6
2098	projection	833,354	0.1–14.1 million	8,279	9,548	1.72	82.7
2099	projection	832,501	0.1–14.7 million	8,251	9,594	1.72	82.8
2100	projection	831,748	0.1–14.9 million	8,224	9,632	1.72	83.0

Show the numbers: Western Sahara, mid-2026, by single year of age

Western Sahara: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	4,588	4,378
1	4,657	4,434
2	4,676	4,448
3	4,669	4,448
4	4,710	4,490
5	4,758	4,539
6	4,793	4,576
7	4,814	4,602
8	4,828	4,622
9	4,826	4,626
10	4,808	4,614
11	4,788	4,597
12	4,748	4,562
13	4,691	4,509
14	4,619	4,441
15	4,538	4,364
16	4,466	4,289
17	4,414	4,225
18	4,400	4,186
19	4,408	4,158
20	4,424	4,136
21	4,442	4,110
22	4,474	4,091
23	4,522	4,084
24	4,585	4,087
25	4,661	4,094
26	4,725	4,085
27	4,781	4,062
28	4,844	4,042
29	4,914	4,024
30	5,003	4,019
31	5,139	4,061
32	5,320	4,144
33	5,510	4,240
34	5,702	4,342
35	5,899	4,448
36	6,084	4,550
37	6,247	4,639
38	6,402	4,725
39	6,543	4,805
40	6,662	4,870
41	6,743	4,902
42	6,785	4,899
43	6,786	4,861
44	6,724	4,776
45	6,583	4,624
46	6,308	4,353
47	5,923	3,986
48	5,496	3,589
49	5,185	3,318
50	4,990	3,182
51	4,767	3,038
52	4,554	2,886
53	4,375	2,760
54	4,198	2,675
55	3,988	2,550
56	3,778	2,422
57	3,577	2,332
58	3,361	2,234
59	3,141	2,136
60	2,936	2,043
61	2,747	1,964
62	2,577	1,901
63	2,424	1,859
64	2,286	1,830
65	2,154	1,799
66	2,025	1,754
67	1,902	1,710
68	1,781	1,670
69	1,660	1,611
70	1,534	1,532
71	1,404	1,438
72	1,275	1,330
73	1,148	1,218
74	1,024	1,102
75	907	984
76	789	864
77	678	746
78	578	639
79	489	544
80	411	459
81	344	384
82	284	318
83	230	260
84	184	208
85	146	165
86	112	130
87	85	100
88	64	76
89	48	56
90	35	41
91	26	30
92	18	22
93	13	14
94	9	10
95	6	7
96	4	5
97	3	3
98	2	2
99	2	1
100+	3	1

ESH · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Western Sahara, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

ESH · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Western Sahara

On the UN's projection, Western Sahara will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2074: 530,910 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 407,438.

100 aged 15–64

33 children

9 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: one orange square for each of 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023. Beneath them, teal for the children living alongside those 100 and violet for the people aged 65 or older.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 45 years: 2003–2047.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: 1950 on the left, 2100 on the right; coloured in the years with fewer than 50 dependants per 100 working-age people, grey in the rest, hatched where that is a projection.

How every country compares

ESH · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Western Sahara, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Western Sahara gains 4,866 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 1,014 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 100 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: each column is one age, youngest on the left. Above the line, in blue, are the ages gaining people; below it, in orange, the ages losing them. This is the UN's projection for 2020–2025 — the record of migration by age does not go back beyond 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 12,426 (1970) and the most it lost was 18,665 (1975).

How migration works everywhere

ESH · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Western Sahara

Of every 100 babies born in Western Sahara in 2023, 7 had a mother under 20, 66 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 27 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 16 under 20 and 17 aged 35 or older.

1950
16 · 67 · 17

2023
7 · 66 · 27

2050 · projected
6 · 72 · 22

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: shrink a year's babies to 100 and colour each one by the age of its mother — that is a block. Under it, the same three groups as numbers, starting with the youngest mothers.

Babies born, 2023: 8,987
Average age when women have a baby: 30.0 years; 29.2 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 31; 136 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Western Sahara by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	8	46	109	13	4	1
15–19	82	519	991	606	587	254
20–24	138	868	1,436	1,544	1,620	1,090
25–29	131	704	1,324	2,103	2,603	2,393
30–34	109	519	1,220	2,262	2,664	2,644
35–39	65	302	925	1,624	1,538	1,418
40–44	25	117	619	735	567	399
45–49	6	32	167	97	44	24
50–54	0	1	8	3	2	1
All babies	564	3,108	6,799	8,987	9,629	8,224

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

ESH · forced from home · end of 2025

Displacement in Western Sahara

UNHCR publishes no refugees, asylum-seekers or displaced people in or from Western Sahara at the end of 2025.

Read that as a gap in the record, not as a finding. The count reaches as far as one agency's work reaches, and no further.

In 2025, 456 people from Western Sahara asked for asylum in another country. Of every 100 people from Western Sahara whose claims were decided that year, 6 were given protection. Who asks for asylum, and who is given it

How the world's displacement is counted

ESH · of every 100 people

How people live in Western Sahara

Of every 100 people in Western Sahara in 2025, 55 lived in a city, 34 in a town or suburb and 11 in the countryside.

cities towns and suburbs rural areas

How to read this: one square for every hundredth person, coloured as the key shows. Because the rule behind the colours is the same everywhere, two countries' squares can be compared directly.

How the world's people live

ESH · adults 25 and over · 2020

How far people in Western Sahara went in school

Of every 100 adults in Western Sahara in 2020, 62 never went to school and 10 finished upper secondary or went further.

62 never went to school 7 some primary 14 finished primary 7 finished lower secondary 5 finished upper secondary 5 studied after school

The young went further: 50.3 of every 100 women aged 25–29 never went to school, against 76.6 of every 100 aged 60–64 (men: 47.9 against 64.4).

The middle projection has its working-age people most numerous in 2070; those among them who finished upper secondary are most numerous later, in 2095.

How to read this: the row is the adults (25 and over) shrunk to 100 people, coloured by how far each went in school, least schooling on the left. The Wittgenstein Centre's count, 2020.

How far the world's people went in school

ESH · cities · 2025

Cities in Western Sahara

Western Sahara had 4 cities in 2025, home to 328,458 people.

Dakhla162,706
Smara63,159
Boujdour51,801
El-Aaiun50,792

How to read this: the 4 biggest cities here in 2025, drawn on a single scale so the bars can be compared. Each is a built-up area on the UN's rule rather than a city government's patch.

All the world's cities

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual country tables (estimates to 2023, projections with 95% intervals from 2024), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

The censuses, surveys and registers behind the UN's estimates for Western Sahara are listed, source by source, on the UN's own data sources page.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UNHCR · country code lists · UN WUP 2025 · Wittgenstein Centre · WHO GHO · flag-icons · Natural Earth. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.