Ethiopia’s Changing Demography

Abstract

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. Although it is the fastest-growing economy in Africa, it is also one of the poorest and least urbanized. Recently, the country has been undergoing demographic changes of historic proportions. It has been experiencing rapid declines in fertility, in infant, child, and maternal mortality, and an increase in life expectancy. Currently, the country is going through a demographic transition process. Both the size and the age structure of the population are changing. Understanding these changes is vital as the country plans the pathway for its future development. This contribution uses rigorously generated evidence of Ethiopia’s demographic transition to highlight the changes in population dynamics that have occurred in the country in the last sixty years and to examine the main drivers of these changes and their implications for the country’s future.