Population of Zimbabwe

The population of  Zimbabwe is officially monitored by the government's Central Statistical Office (CSO). At the last official census in 1992 the total population of  Zimbabwe was estimated to be at about 13.5 million people. Of those 13 million people about 51% were estimated to be female.

Due to the scarcity of reliable statistical information in Zimbabwe in many cases for political reasons you will find it difficult to establish facts from opinion. A case in point is inflation data during the Zimbabwe dollar days. The government went for months without providing any official data on inflation. Information that should normally be available on a monthly basis.

Other agencies also keep their fingers on the pulse of the population of the people of  Zimbabwe. Unofficial statistical information mostly from non-profit organisations working in the area of humanitarian aid estimate that the population of  Zimbabwe in 2009 is way less than at the last census some 8 years or so ago.

Reasons for the lower figures include a ravaging HIV and AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe. At one point AIDS was estimated to be killing about 2000 Zimbabweans per a week a massive 100000 people per year. The mass exodus of young Zimbabwean professionals into South Africa, the UK and the USA is also a factor. In fact the population of  Zimbabweans in the UK is estimated to be running into millions. Possibly a million to a million and half people. Most of which have incomplete documentation and staying on as failed asylum seekers.

The distribution of the population is concentrated in city centers. The population of  Bulawayo is the second largest concentration after that of Harare the capital of  Zimbabwe. This has to a large extent to do with the history of  Zimbabwe dating back to the arrival of  colonizing settlers and the subsequent liberation struggle. The British settlers moved indigenous Zimbabweans to concentrated arid lands. During the liberation struggle a significant number of people fled the country side to settle in urban areas where there was less fighting.

The fierce economic degradation, drought and huger that followed in the late 1990s into the first decade of the 21st century also saw a significant number of people participating in massive rural to urban migration is desperate search of food security and employment. In 2005 an internationally condemned government operation called Operation Murambatsvina drove thousands of urban communities back to rural areas forcibly. These factors influenced the internal population spread.

Until the next comprehensive census the actual current population of the country may never be known. Many serious movements and displacements have occurred since the last official census.

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