TheDemographics of the Middle East describespopulations of theMiddle East, a region covering western and northern parts of the Asian and African continents respectively.
| Population growth[1] There are 371,000,000Muslims in Middle Eastthere are between 11 and 10 MillionChristians across the Middle East, there are 800,000 - 1,100,000Druze who live inIsrael,Syria andLebanon. There are large communities ofHindus in theArab states of the Persian Gulf andSaudi Arabia who number over 3.1 Million and an estimated 902,890Buddhists and 700,000Yazidi and numerous other religions. Non Muslims are about 43 Million or 23% of the Middle East population, Muslims form the majority and the rest. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | 1990 | 2008 | 2010 | 1990-2008 | 2016 | Growth % | ||
| Million | 1990-08 | 1990-10 | ||||||
| 1 | Bahrain | 0.49 | 0.77 | 1.26 | 0.3 | 56% | 157% | |
| 2 | Cyprus | 0.58 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.2 | 38% | 38% | |
| 3 | Egypt | 57.79 | 81.53 | 81.12 | 23.7 | 41% | 40% | |
| 6 | Iran | 54.40 | 71.96 | 73.97 | 17.6 | 32% | 36% | |
| 5 | Iraq | 18.14 | 28.22 | 32.32 | 10.1 | 56% | 78% | |
| 6 | Israel | 4.68 | 7.31 | 7.62 | 2.6 | 56% | 63% | |
| 7 | Jordan | 3.17 | 5.91 | 6.05 | 2.7 | 86% | 91% | |
| 8 | Kuwait | 2.13 | 2.73 | 2.74 | 0.6 | 28% | 29% | |
| 9 | Lebanon | 2.97 | 4.14 | 4.23 | 1.2 | 39% | 42% | |
| 10 | Oman | 1.84 | 2.79 | 2.78 | 0.9 | 51% | 51% | |
| 11 | Palestine | 1.90 | 3.91 | 4.12 | 2.0 | 106% | 117% | |
| 12 | Qatar | 0.47 | 1.28 | 1.76 | 0.8 | 174% | 274% | |
| 13 | Saudi Arabia | 16.38 | 24.65 | 27.45 | 8.3 | 50% | 68% | |
| 14 | Syria | 12.72 | 21.23 | 20.45 | 8.5 | 67% | 61% | |
| 15 | Turkey | 55.12 | 71.08 | 72.85 | 16.0 | 29% | 32% | |
| 16 | UAE | 1.87 | 4.37 | 7.51 | 2.5 | 134% | 302% | |
| 17 | Yemen | 12.31 | 23.05 | 24.05 | 10.7 | 87% | 95% | |
| x | Total | 246.96 | 355.73 | 371.08 | 66.9 | 51 % | 61% | |
| x | World | 5,265.2 | 6,687.9 | 6,825 | 1,422.7 | 27 % | 30% | |
| Source: OECD/World Bank | ||||||||
Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 2018 that "by the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories ofTurkey,Cyprus,Syria,Lebanon,Iraq,Iran,Israel,Palestine,Jordan,Egypt,Sudan,Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia,Kuwait,Yemen,Oman,Bahrain,Qatar, and theTrucial States, or Trucial Oman [nowUnited Arab Emirates])."[2]
List of countries bylife expectancy at birth for 2023 according to theWorld Bank Group:[3][4][5]
| Countries and territories | 2023 | Historical data | recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2023 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Male | Female | Sex gap | 2014 | 2014 →2019 | 2019 | 2019 →2020 | 2020 | 2020 →2021 | 2021 | 2021 →2022 | 2022 | 2022 →2023 | 2023 | ||
 Israel | 83.20 | 81.00 | 85.50 | 4.50 | 82.15 | 0.65 | 82.80 | −0.16 | 82.65 | −0.15 | 82.50 | 0.20 | 82.70 | 0.50 | 83.20 | 0.39 |
 Kuwait | 83.19 | 82.70 | 83.70 | 1.00 | 79.08 | 2.89 | 81.97 | −3.21 | 78.76 | −0.02 | 78.74 | 1.85 | 80.59 | 2.60 | 83.19 | 1.22 |
 United Arab Emirates | 82.91 | 81.98 | 84.20 | 2.23 | 81.99 | 0.61 | 82.60 | −0.66 | 81.94 | −2.85 | 79.08 | 1.40 | 80.49 | 2.42 | 82.91 | 0.31 |
 Qatar | 82.37 | 81.61 | 83.37 | 1.76 | 81.39 | 1.55 | 82.94 | −2.54 | 80.41 | 0.67 | 81.08 | 0.77 | 81.86 | 0.51 | 82.37 | −0.58 |
 Cyprus | 81.65 | 79.64 | 83.67 | 4.03 | 81.34 | 0.12 | 81.45 | −0.22 | 81.23 | −0.66 | 80.57 | −0.14 | 80.43 | 1.21 | 81.65 | 0.19 |
 Bahrain | 81.28 | 80.67 | 81.99 | 1.31 | 80.21 | 0.26 | 80.47 | −1.79 | 78.68 | −0.60 | 78.08 | 2.91 | 80.99 | 0.29 | 81.28 | 0.81 |
 Oman | 80.03 | 78.49 | 81.88 | 3.39 | 79.03 | 0.92 | 79.95 | −2.18 | 77.76 | −1.79 | 75.97 | 1.94 | 77.91 | 2.12 | 80.03 | 0.09 |
 Saudi Arabia | 78.73 | 77.10 | 81.16 | 4.06 | 77.12 | 1.20 | 78.31 | −0.72 | 77.60 | −0.51 | 77.09 | 0.22 | 77.31 | 1.42 | 78.73 | 0.42 |
 Lebanon | 77.82 | 75.74 | 79.73 | 3.99 | 78.15 | 0.06 | 78.21 | −1.91 | 76.30 | −2.65 | 73.65 | 4.35 | 78.00 | −0.19 | 77.82 | −0.39 |
 Jordan | 77.81 | 75.71 | 80.19 | 4.48 | 74.61 | 2.26 | 76.86 | −1.28 | 75.58 | −1.38 | 74.20 | 2.88 | 77.09 | 0.73 | 77.81 | 0.95 |
 Iran | 77.65 | 75.79 | 79.63 | 3.84 | 75.64 | 1.22 | 76.86 | −2.71 | 74.14 | −0.39 | 73.75 | 3.05 | 76.80 | 0.85 | 77.65 | 0.80 |
 Turkey | 77.16 | 74.53 | 79.86 | 5.33 | 76.45 | 1.28 | 77.74 | −1.21 | 76.53 | −0.80 | 75.72 | 1.87 | 77.59 | −0.43 | 77.16 | −0.58 |
| World | 73.33 | 70.95 | 75.84 | 4.89 | 71.78 | 1.09 | 72.87 | −0.68 | 72.18 | −0.97 | 71.22 | 1.75 | 72.97 | 0.36 | 73.33 | 0.46 |
 Iraq | 72.32 | 70.43 | 74.06 | 3.63 | 69.68 | 1.57 | 71.25 | −1.59 | 69.65 | 1.05 | 70.70 | 1.33 | 72.04 | 0.29 | 72.32 | 1.08 |
 Syria | 72.12 | 69.83 | 74.41 | 4.58 | 65.49 | 5.48 | 70.97 | 0.97 | 71.94 | 0.47 | 72.42 | 0.37 | 72.79 | −0.67 | 72.12 | 1.15 |
 Egypt | 71.63 | 69.49 | 73.81 | 4.32 | 69.91 | 1.30 | 71.21 | −1.42 | 69.79 | −0.81 | 68.98 | 2.03 | 71.01 | 0.62 | 71.63 | 0.42 |
 Yemen | 69.30 | 67.23 | 71.39 | 4.15 | 68.00 | −1.44 | 66.57 | −0.13 | 66.44 | −0.42 | 66.02 | 1.93 | 67.95 | 1.34 | 69.30 | 2.73 |
 Palestine | 65.17 | 59.69 | 71.50 | 11.81 | 72.78 | 3.03 | 75.81 | −0.81 | 75.00 | −1.11 | 73.89 | 2.77 | 76.66 | −11.49 | 65.17 | −10.64 |
In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:[6]
In addition, the population of North Africa was 12 million, with the following breakdown within borders:
