🇿🇼 Zimbabwe Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of Zimbabwe is 17,273,580, ranking #74 in the world (0.21% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 1.88% per year. The biggest city is Harare with 1,542,813 inhabitants.

Live estimate

17,281,197

Growth rate

1.88%

Density

people / km² (116 / mi²)

Median age

18.3

Fertility rate

3.57

births per woman

Life expectancy

63.6

years

Zimbabwe population 1950–2100

Population of Zimbabwe, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of Zimbabwe is projected to reach 25,866,385, and 37,166,572 by 2100.

Zimbabwe population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	17,273,580	1.88%	44.7	18.3
2025	16,950,795	1.89%	43.8	18.1
2024	16,634,373	1.88%	43.0	18.0
2023	16,340,822	1.68%	42.2	17.8
2022	16,069,056	1.67%	41.5	17.7
2021	15,797,210	1.74%	40.8	17.5
2020	15,526,888	1.71%	40.1	17.4
2019	15,271,368	1.61%	39.5	17.2
2018	15,034,452	1.52%	38.9	17.0
2017	14,812,482	1.46%	38.3	16.9
2016	14,600,294	1.43%	37.7	16.8
2015	14,399,013	1.35%	37.2	16.7
2014	14,207,358	1.33%	36.7	16.8
2013	14,013,808	1.41%	36.2	16.9
2012	13,817,887	1.41%	35.7	17.0
2011	13,595,424	1.84%	35.1	17.2
2010	13,356,548	1.70%	34.5	17.3
2009	13,142,790	1.53%	34.0	17.4
2008	12,959,150	1.29%	33.5	17.4
2007	12,804,058	1.12%	33.1	17.5
2006	12,636,445	1.52%	32.7	17.5
2005	12,483,432	0.92%	32.3	17.5
2004	12,365,896	0.98%	32.0	17.4
2003	12,232,322	1.20%	31.6	17.2
2002	12,087,653	1.18%	31.2	17.1
2001	11,971,902	0.74%	30.9	16.9
2000	11,892,055	0.60%	30.7	16.7
1999	11,783,458	1.24%	30.5	16.6
1998	11,594,297	2.00%	30.0	16.3
1997	11,369,828	1.91%	29.4	16.0
1996	11,158,360	1.85%	28.8	15.8
1995	10,974,598	1.47%	28.4	15.5
1994	10,873,148	0.38%	28.1	15.2
1993	10,860,288	-0.15%	28.1	15.1
1992	10,702,700	3.09%	27.7	15.2
1991	10,404,816	2.54%	26.9	15.3
1990	10,137,281	2.67%	26.2	15.1
1989	9,864,798	2.78%	25.5	15.0
1988	9,583,094	3.01%	24.8	14.9
1987	9,284,644	3.32%	24.0	14.9
1986	8,982,578	3.30%	23.2	14.9
1985	8,686,813	3.40%	22.5	14.8
1984	8,391,488	3.52%	21.7	14.8
1983	8,098,404	3.59%	20.9	14.7
1982	7,796,496	4.01%	20.2	14.7
1981	7,498,634	3.77%	19.4	14.7
1980	7,041,303	8.98%	18.2	14.6
1979	6,647,556	2.34%	17.2	14.5
1978	6,543,575	0.80%	16.9	14.7
1977	6,449,512	2.11%	16.7	14.7
1976	6,287,105	3.00%	16.3	14.8
1975	6,098,658	3.08%	15.8	14.8
1974	5,908,328	3.26%	15.3	14.8
1973	5,720,404	3.20%	14.8	14.8
1972	5,542,445	3.12%	14.3	14.8
1971	5,374,712	3.03%	13.9	14.7
1970	5,215,918	2.97%	13.5	14.7
1969	5,058,181	3.17%	13.1	14.7
1968	4,900,440	3.16%	12.7	14.6
1967	4,748,307	3.15%	12.3	14.6
1966	4,601,217	3.15%	11.9	14.6
1965	4,458,462	3.16%	11.5	14.5
1964	4,320,006	3.15%	11.2	14.6
1963	4,185,877	3.15%	10.8	14.8
1962	4,055,959	3.15%	10.5	15.0
1961	3,930,402	3.14%	10.2	15.1
1960	3,809,388	3.12%	9.8	15.3
1959	3,692,801	3.10%	9.5	15.4
1958	3,580,181	3.09%	9.3	15.6
1957	3,471,154	3.09%	9.0	15.8
1956	3,365,535	3.09%	8.7	16.0
1955	3,263,215	3.09%	8.4	16.2
1954	3,163,883	3.10%	8.2	16.4
1953	3,067,166	3.11%	7.9	16.7
1952	2,972,903	3.13%	7.7	16.9
1951	2,880,892	3.16%	7.4	17.2
1950	2,790,905	3.19%	7.2	17.4

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	17,600,613	1.87%	45.5	18.5
2028	17,932,008	1.86%	46.4	18.7
2029	18,268,955	1.86%	47.2	19.0
2030	18,610,348	1.84%	48.1	19.2
2031	18,956,198	1.84%	49.0	19.5
2032	19,311,356	1.87%	49.9	19.8
2033	19,675,922	1.87%	50.9	20.1
2034	20,041,123	1.81%	51.8	20.3
2035	20,409,146	1.83%	52.8	20.6
2036	20,778,653	1.76%	53.7	20.8
2037	21,144,735	1.74%	54.7	21.1
2038	21,512,908	1.72%	55.6	21.3
2039	21,881,118	1.68%	56.6	21.5
2040	22,250,109	1.67%	57.5	21.6
2041	22,627,422	1.70%	58.5	21.8
2042	23,000,894	1.58%	59.5	22.0
2043	23,371,287	1.61%	60.4	22.2
2044	23,740,627	1.52%	61.4	22.4
2045	24,102,380	1.50%	62.3	22.6
2046	24,462,478	1.46%	63.2	22.8
2047	24,816,446	1.41%	64.2	23.0
2048	25,168,410	1.41%	65.1	23.2
2049	25,518,501	1.36%	66.0	23.4
2050	25,866,385	1.35%	66.9	23.6
2051	26,217,392	1.34%	67.8	23.8
2052	26,563,784	1.28%	68.7	24.0
2053	26,904,740	1.27%	69.5	24.3
2054	27,237,566	1.19%	70.4	24.5
2055	27,563,873	1.19%	71.3	24.7
2056	27,885,041	1.13%	72.1	25.0
2057	28,202,519	1.14%	72.9	25.2
2058	28,518,421	1.09%	73.7	25.4
2059	28,825,882	1.06%	74.5	25.7
2060	29,129,003	1.04%	75.3	25.9
2061	29,433,746	1.04%	76.1	26.2
2062	29,740,361	1.03%	76.9	26.5
2063	30,043,621	1.00%	77.7	26.7
2064	30,336,214	0.94%	78.4	27.0
2065	30,624,953	0.96%	79.2	27.2
2066	30,911,495	0.91%	79.9	27.5
2067	31,192,889	0.91%	80.6	27.7
2068	31,470,983	0.87%	81.4	28.0
2069	31,743,464	0.86%	82.1	28.3
2070	32,010,414	0.82%	82.7	28.5
2071	32,270,423	0.80%	83.4	28.8
2072	32,534,295	0.83%	84.1	29.0
2073	32,801,158	0.80%	84.8	29.3
2074	33,057,422	0.75%	85.5	29.5
2075	33,302,300	0.72%	86.1	29.8
2076	33,543,537	0.72%	86.7	30.1
2077	33,780,328	0.69%	87.3	30.3
2078	34,006,592	0.65%	87.9	30.6
2079	34,225,355	0.64%	88.5	30.8
2080	34,440,027	0.62%	89.0	31.1
2081	34,648,029	0.59%	89.6	31.3
2082	34,843,630	0.54%	90.1	31.6
2083	35,030,513	0.53%	90.6	31.8
2084	35,213,311	0.51%	91.0	32.0
2085	35,387,624	0.48%	91.5	32.3
2086	35,556,301	0.47%	91.9	32.5
2087	35,721,394	0.45%	92.3	32.8
2088	35,871,639	0.39%	92.7	33.0
2089	36,012,386	0.40%	93.1	33.2
2090	36,154,189	0.39%	93.5	33.5
2091	36,284,409	0.33%	93.8	33.7
2092	36,405,082	0.33%	94.1	33.9
2093	36,516,149	0.28%	94.4	34.1
2094	36,625,729	0.32%	94.7	34.4
2095	36,739,734	0.30%	95.0	34.6
2096	36,840,486	0.25%	95.2	34.8
2097	36,932,288	0.25%	95.5	35.0
2098	37,019,886	0.23%	95.7	35.2
2099	37,096,560	0.19%	95.9	35.5
2100	37,166,572	0.19%	96.1	35.7

States & provinces of Zimbabwe by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Harare	2,427,209	14.1%
2	Manicaland	2,098,110	12.1%
3	Mashonaland West	1,893,584	11.0%
4	Mashonaland East	1,731,173	10.0%
5	Masvingo	1,638,528	9.5%
6	Midlands	1,514,459	8.8%
7	Mashonaland Central	1,384,891	8.0%
8	Matabeleland North	827,645	4.8%
9	Matabeleland South	760,345	4.4%
10	Bulawayo	665,952	3.9%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in Zimbabwe

#	City	Region	Population
1	Harare capital	Harare	1,542,813
2	Bulawayo	Bulawayo	665,952
3	Chitungwiza	Harare	371,246
4	Mutare	Manicaland	224,802
5	Gweru	Midlands Province	158,200
6	Kwekwe	Midlands Province	119,863
7	Kadoma	Mashonaland West	117,381
8	Ruwa	Mashonaland East Province	94,083
9	Chinhoyi	Mashonaland West	90,800
10	Masvingo	Masvingo Province	90,286
11	Norton	Mashonaland West	87,039
12	Marondera	Mashonaland East Province	66,204
13	Chegutu	Mashonaland West	65,800
14	Zvishavane	Masvingo Province	59,717
15	Beitbridge	Matabeleland South Province	58,574

FAQ

What is the population of Zimbabwe in 2026?

The population of Zimbabwe is 17,273,580 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in Zimbabwe?

Harare is the biggest city in Zimbabwe with 1,542,813 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of Zimbabwe growing or shrinking?

The population of Zimbabwe is growing at 1.88% per year.

Neighboring countries

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-07.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-07.

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