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Botswana vs. Namibia

Demographics

BotswanaNamibia
Population2,350,667 (July 2021 est.)

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
2,678,191 (July 2021 est.)

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Age structure0-14 years: 30.54% (male 357,065/female 350,550)

15-24 years: 18.31% (male 208,824/female 215,462)

25-54 years: 39.67% (male 434,258/female 484,922)

55-64 years: 5.92% (male 59,399/female 77,886)

65 years and over: 5.56% (male 53,708/female 75,159) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 35.68% (male 473,937/female 464,453)

15-24 years: 20.27% (male 267,106/female 265,882)

25-54 years: 35.47% (male 449,132/female 483,811)

55-64 years: 4.68% (male 54,589/female 68,619)

65 years and over: 3.9% (male 43,596/female 58,948) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 25.7 years

male: 24.5 years

female: 26.7 years (2020 est.)
total: 21.8 years

male: 21.1 years

female: 22.6 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate1.43% (2021 est.)1.83% (2021 est.)
Birth rate20.6 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)25.33 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate9.12 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)7.07 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate2.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.9 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.76 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female

total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.8 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 25.97 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 28.38 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 23.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 30.38 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 32.47 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 28.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 65.24 years

male: 63.21 years

female: 67.32 years (2021 est.)
total population: 65.87 years

male: 63.9 years

female: 67.9 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate2.42 children born/woman (2021 est.)3.03 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate19.9% (2020 est.)11.6% (2020 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)

adjective: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)
noun: Namibian(s)

adjective: Namibian
Ethnic groupsTswana (or Setswana) 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, other, including Kgalagadi and people of European ancestry 7%Ovambo 50%, Kavangos 9%, Herero 7%, Damara 7%, mixed European and African ancestry 6.5%, European 6%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, San 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana .5%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS370,000 (2020 est.)210,000 (2020 est.)
ReligionsChristian 79.1%, Badimo 4.1%, other 1.4% (includes Baha'i, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian), none 15.2%, unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.)Christian 80% to 90% (at least 50% Lutheran), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%
HIV/AIDS - deaths5,100 (2020 est.)3,000 (2020 est.)
LanguagesSetswana 77.3%, Sekalanga 7.4%, Shekgalagadi 3.4%, English (official) 2.8%, Zezuru/Shona 2%, Sesarwa 1.7%, Sembukushu 1.6%, Ndebele 1%, other 2.8% (2011 est.)Oshiwambo languages 49.7%, Nama/Damara 11%, Kavango languages 10.4%, Afrikaans 9.4% (also a common language), Herero languages 9.2%, Zambezi languages 4.9%, English (official) 2.3%, other African languages 1.5%, other European languages 0.7%, other 1% (2016 est.)

note: Namibia has 13 recognized national languages, including 10 indigenous African languages and 3 European languages
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 88.5%

male: 88%

female: 88.9% (2015)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 91.5%

male: 91.6%

female: 91.4% (2018)
Major infectious diseasesdegree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria
degree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
Education expendituresNA3.1% of GDP (2014)
Urbanizationurban population: 71.6% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 53% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 3.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 98.2% of population

rural: 94% of population

total: 96.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.8% of population

rural: 3.1% of population

total: 3.8% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 98.9% of population

rural: 80.8% of population

total: 89.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.1% of population

rural: 19.2% of population

total: 10.3% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 92.9% of population

rural: 60.8% of population

total: 82.8% of population

unimproved: urban: 7.1% of population

rural: 39.2% of population

total: 17.2% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 72.9% of population

rural: 22% of population

total: 46.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 27.1% of population

rural: 78% of population

total: 53.1% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population269,000 GABORONE (capital) (2018)446,000 WINDHOEK (capital) (2021)
Maternal mortality rate144 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)195 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Health expenditures5.9% (2018)8% (2018)
Physicians density0.53 physicians/1,000 population (2016)0.42 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Hospital bed density1.8 beds/1,000 population (2010)2.7 beds/1,000 population (2009)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate18.9% (2016)17.2% (2016)
Demographic profile

Botswana has experienced one of the most rapid declines in fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa. The total fertility rate has fallen from more than 5 children per woman in the mid 1980s to approximately 2.4 in 2013. The fertility reduction has been attributed to a host of factors, including higher educational attainment among women, greater participation of women in the workforce, increased contraceptive use, later first births, and a strong national family planning program. Botswana was making significant progress in several health indicators, including life expectancy and infant and child mortality rates, until being devastated by the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 1990s.

Today Botswana has the third highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world at approximately 22%, however comprehensive and effective treatment programs have reduced HIV/AIDS-related deaths. The combination of declining fertility and increasing mortality rates because of HIV/AIDS is slowing the population aging process, with a narrowing of the youngest age groups and little expansion of the oldest age groups. Nevertheless, having the bulk of its population (about 60%) of working age will only yield economic benefits if the labor force is healthy, educated, and productively employed.

Batswana have been working as contract miners in South Africa since the 19th century. Although Botswana's economy improved shortly after independence in 1966 with the discovery of diamonds and other minerals, its lingering high poverty rate and lack of job opportunities continued to push workers to seek mining work in southern African countries. In the early 1970s, about a third of Botswana's male labor force worked in South Africa (lesser numbers went to Namibia and Zimbabwe). Not until the 1980s and 1990s, when South African mining companies had reduced their recruitment of foreign workers and Botswana's economic prospects had improved, were Batswana increasingly able to find job opportunities at home.

Most Batswana prefer life in their home country and choose cross-border migration on a temporary basis only for work, shopping, visiting family, or tourism. Since the 1970s, Botswana has pursued an open migration policy enabling it to recruit thousands of foreign workers to fill skilled labor shortages. In the late 1990s, Botswana's prosperity and political stability attracted not only skilled workers but small numbers of refugees from neighboring Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Planning officials view Namibia's reduced population growth rate as sustainable based on the country's economic growth over the past decade. Prior to independence in 1990, Namibia's relatively small population grew at about 3% annually, but declining fertility and the impact of HIV/AIDS slowed this growth to 1.4% by 2011, rebounding to close to 2% by 2016. Namibia's fertility rate has fallen over the last two decades - from about 4.5 children per woman in 1996 to 3.4 in 2016 - due to increased contraceptive use, higher educational attainment among women, and greater female participation in the labor force. The average age at first birth has stayed fairly constant, but the age at first marriage continues to increase, indicating a rising incidence of premarital childbearing.

The majority of Namibians are rural dwellers (about 55%) and live in the better-watered north and northeast parts of the country. Migration, historically male-dominated, generally flows from northern communal areas - non-agricultural lands where blacks were sequestered under the apartheid system - to agricultural, mining, and manufacturing centers in the center and south. After independence from South Africa, restrictions on internal movement eased, and rural-urban migration increased, bolstering urban growth.

Some Namibians - usually persons who are better-educated, more affluent, and from urban areas - continue to legally migrate to South Africa temporarily to visit family and friends and, much less frequently, to pursue tertiary education or better economic opportunities. Namibians concentrated along the country's other borders make unauthorized visits to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, or Botswana, to visit family and to trade agricultural goods. Few Namibians express interest in permanently settling in other countries; they prefer the safety of their homeland, have a strong national identity, and enjoy a well-supplied retail sector. Although Namibia is receptive to foreign investment and cross-border trade, intolerance toward non-citizens is widespread.

Contraceptive prevalence rate67.4% (2017)56.1% (2013)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 61.1

youth dependency ratio: 53.8

elderly dependency ratio: 7.3

potential support ratio: 13.8 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 67.9

youth dependency ratio: 61.8

elderly dependency ratio: 6

potential support ratio: 16.6 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook