Demographics of the Dominican Republic

This is a demography of the population of the Dominican Republic including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Dominican Republic
Population pyramid of Dominican Republic in 2020
Population	11,332,972 (last census)
Growth rate	0.91% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	14.6 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate	4.1 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Life expectancy	72.56 years
• male	70.86 years
• female	74.33 years (2022 est.)
Fertility rate	1.80 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Infant mortality rate	21.18 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-2.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	26.85%
15–64 years	64.98%
65 and over	8.17%
Sex ratio
Total	1.02 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.04 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.03 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.73 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Dominican
Major ethnic	Mixed (71.72%)[1] Indio (34.20%) Moreno (25.97%) Mestizo (7.72%) Mulatto (3.83%)
Minor ethnic	White (18.70%) Black (7.45%) East Asian (0.33%) Other (1.80%)
Language
Official	Spanish

Population size and structure

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1844	132,275	—
1850	146,835	+1.76%
1860	188,440	+2.53%
1870	243,047	+2.58%
1880	313,223	+2.57%
1890	403,638	+2.57%
1900	521,386	+2.59%
1910	694,364	+2.91%
1920	896,843	+2.59%
1930	1,267,768	+3.52%
1940	1,702,095	+2.99%
1950	2,379,897	+3.41%
1960	3,268,340	+3.22%
1970	4,399,292	+3.02%
1980	5,729,043	+2.68%
1990	7,151,163	+2.24%
2000	8,584,196	+1.84%
2010	9,820,181	+1.35%
2020	11,008,297	+1.15%
Source:[2]

The area was first included in world trade in 1492 when Christopher Columbus docked on the island of Hispaniola. When Spain occupied the country in 1496, the population consisted of Arawak (Taíno Indians). When Spain returned in 1496, they founded the current capital, Santo Domingo, as the first European city in America. The country came under Spanish rule. France took over the part of Hispaniola that is today Haiti. During the colony era, The Dominican Republic acted as a sugar supplier to Spain and France. Many whites moved to the country during this period. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas. Today, two other large groups have joined, while the indigenous population has mostly disappeared. 45% of Dominicans consider themselves to have some significant Indigenous/Endemic ancestry, 18% are white, 7.8% are fully or predominantly black and 74% are mixed (Mestizo/Mulatto/"Indio"/Trigueño). About 9.2% of the Dominican population claims a European immigrant background, according to the 2021 Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas survey. During the many years that have passed since the great immigration, the races have been mixed and it can be difficult to distinguish. In terms of race, they are all similar to the other Caribbean islands. The Spaniards brought Christianity to the Dominican Republic, and today about 50% of the population reports as being Catholic. One clear remnant of the Spanish colonial era on the population is the official and widespread use of the Spanish language.

The Dominican Republic's population (1961–2003).

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects^[3][4] the total population was 11,117,873 in 2021, compared to 2,380,000 in 1950. The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 31.2%, 62.8% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6% were aged 65 years or older.^[5]

Group of Dominicans in the town of Moca.

	Total population ( × 1000)	Proportion
		aged 0–14	aged 15–64	aged 65+
1950	2 380	45.5%	51.7%	2.7%
1955	2 796	46.3%	51.1%	2.6%
1960	3 312	48.2%	49.2%	2.6%
1965	3 900	48.9%	48.5%	2.6%
1970	4 524	47.7%	49.7%	2.7%
1975	5 169	45.3%	51.9%	2.8%
1980	5 826	42.6%	54.4%	3.1%
1985	6 524	40.4%	56.2%	3.4%
1990	7 245	38.5%	57.6%	3.9%
1995	7 978	37.0%	58.5%	4.5%
2000	8 663	34.9%	59.9%	5.1%
2005	9 343	33.1%	61.3%	5.7%
2010	10 017	31.2%	62.8%	6.0%
2015	10 528	30.0%	63.4%	6.7%
2020	11 107	28.3%	62.8%	7.6%

Structure of the population

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 082 876	5 086 296	10 169 172	100
0–4	492 808	472 820	965 628	9.49
5–9	492 702	474 348	967 050	9.50
10–14	492 107	477 445	969 552	9.53
15–19	480 035	471 501	951 536	9.51
20–24	455 440	453 444	930 505	9.15
25–29	420 715	423 382	844 907	8.30
30–34	377 850	385 180	763 030	7.50
35–39	339 877	348 143	688 020	6.76
40–44	306 907	313 858	616 955	6.07
45–49	275 488	282 105	557 593	5.48
50–54	245 299	249 766	495 065	4.87
55–59	206 257	210 188	416 445	4.10
60–64	162 912	168 103	331 015	3.25
65–69	121 894	126 929	248 523	2.44
70–74	86 739	90 761	177 500	1.74
75–79	61 133	65 274	126 407	1.24
80+	65 523	73 349	138 872	1.36
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 595 851	1 538 432	3 134 283	30.56
15–64	3 213 973	3 268 108	6 482 081	63.19
65+	306 501	334 859	641 360	6.25

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2017) (Data refer to national projections.): ^[6]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 259 642	5 275 893	10 535 535	100
0–4	483 891	463 927	947 818	9.00
5–9	490 677	471 962	962 639	9.14
10–14	483 264	468 329	951 593	9.03
15–19	479 169	469 840	949 009	9.01
20–24	456 645	454 343	910 988	8.65
25–29	432 645	433 391	866 036	8.22
30–34	397 618	402 420	800 038	7.59
35–39	359 670	365 118	724 788	6.88
40–44	324 954	331 269	656 223	6.23
45–49	292 170	300 700	592 870	5.63
50–54	261 184	269 338	530 522	5.04
55–59	228 775	236 116	464 891	4.41
60–64	186 503	193 210	379 713	3.60
65–69	141 674	150 452	292 126	2.77
70–74	100 692	107 713	208 405	1.98
75–79	65 820	71 673	137 493	1.31
80+	74 291	86 092	160 383	1.52
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 457 832	1 404 218	2 862 050	27.17
15–64	3 419 333	3 455 745	6 875 078	65.26
65+	382 477	415 930	798 407	7.58

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Data refer to national projections.): ^[6]

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates

Registration of vital events is not universal in the Dominican Republic. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates: ^[5]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy total	Life expectancy males	Life expectancy females
1950–1955	140 000	53 000	87 000	54.3	20.5	33.8	7.60	153	46.0	44.7	47.3
1955–1960	163 000	54 000	109 000	53.4	17.6	35.8	7.64	139	49.9	48.6	51.4
1960–1965	178 000	52 000	126 000	49.5	14.5	35.0	7.35	124	53.6	52.1	55.2
1965–1970	186 000	50 000	136 000	44.2	11.8	32.3	6.65	109	56.9	55.4	58.7
1970–1975	190 000	47 000	143 000	39.2	9.7	29.6	5.68	96	59.8	58.1	61.8
1975–1980	194 000	46 000	149 000	35.4	8.3	27.1	4.76	86	62.0	60.3	64.0
1980–1985	206 000	46 000	160 000	33.4	7.5	25.9	4.15	75	64.0	62.1	66.1
1985–1990	213 000	46 000	168 000	31.0	6.7	24.3	3.65	63	66.5	64.3	69.0
1990–1995	218 000	46 000	172 000	28.7	6.0	22.7	3.31	48	69.0	66.5	71.9
1995–2000	215 000	50 000	165 000	25.8	6.0	19.8	2.98	41	70.0	67.3	73.1
2000–2005	219 000	54 000	165 000	23.8	6.1	17.7	2.75	35	71.1	68.1	74.4
2005–2010	221 000	58 000	163 000	22.0	6.0	16.0	2.57	30	72.2	69.2	75.5
2010–2015				20.9	6.1	14.8	2.57
2015–2020				19.7	6.1	13.6	2.45
2020–2025				18.0	6.4	11.6	2.36
2025–2030				16.5	6.7	9.8	2.23
2030–2035				15.2	7.1	8.1	2.12
2035–2040				14.2	7.5	6.7	2.03
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered births and deaths

^[7]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	Crude migration rate	TFR
2001	8,512,996	194,705	28,771	165,934	22.8	3.4	19.5		2.571
2002	8,627,509	191,409	26,739	164,670	22.1	3.1	19.0	-5.7	2.494
2003	8,745,084	177,859	30,005	147,854	20.3	3.4	16.9	-3.5	2.272
2004	8,857,648	168,734	34,716	134,018	19.0	3.9	15.1	-2.4	2.142
2005	8,968,144	166,150	34,586	131,564	18.5	3.8	14.6	-2.3	2.086
2006	9,071,458	158,137	32,596	125,541	17.4	3.6	13.8	-2.4	1.974
2007	9,174,058	157,033	34,158	122,875	17.1	3.7	13.4	-2.2	1.941
2008	9,279,602	164,373	34,252	130,121	17.6	3.7	14.0	-2.6	2.025
2009	9,380,152	168,495	34,105	134,390	17.9	3.6	14.2	-3.5	2.055
2010	9,478,612	170,414	36,869	133,545	17.9	3.9	14.0	-3.6	2.054
2011	9,580,139	177,135	36,485	140,650	18.4	3.8	14.6	-4.0	2.116
2012	9,680,963	170,568	36,753	133,815	17.5	3.8	13.8	-3.4	2.028
2013	9,784,680	172,136	36,767	135,369	17.5	3.7	13.8	-3.2	2.036
2014	9,883,486	175,897	41,467	134,430	17.7	4.2	13.5	-3.5	2.065
2015	9,980,243	171,422	42,017	129,405	17.1	4.2	12.9	-3.2	1.998
2016	10,075,045	162,607	44,366	118,241	16.1	4.4	11.7	-2.3	1.883
2017	10,169,172	171,538	43,482	128,056	16.8	4.3	12.5	-3.2	1.982
2018	10,266,149	177,854	42,838	135,016	17.2	4.2	13.0	-3.6	2.057
2019	10,358,320	181,139	44,925	136,214	17.3	4.3	13.0	-4.1	2.089
2020	10,448,499	162,212	47,264	114,948	15.3	4.5	10.8	-2.2	1.878
2021	10,535,535	170,520	50,702	119,818	15.9	4.8	11.2	-2.9	1.972
2022	10,621,938	170,069	46,028	124,041	16.0	4.2	11.8	-3.7	1.964
2023	10,711,155	156,024	43,338	112,686	14.6	4.1	10.5	-2.2	1.802
2024		142,174[8]	43,913	98,261	13.2	4.1	9.1

Demographic and Health Surveys

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[9]

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
1965–69		7,1
1970–74		5,8
1975–79		4,7
1980–82		4,31
1983–85		3,69
1986		3,8 (2,8)		3,2 (2,5)		5,1 (3,5)
1991	30,1	3,3 (2,6)	29,7	2,8 (2,3)	30,5	4,4 (3,1)
1996	27,7	3,2 (2,5)	24,4	2,8 (2,2)	29,8	4,0 (3,0)
1999		2,9 (2,3)		2,7 (2,1)		3,4 (2,7)
2002	25,2	3,0 (2,3)	25,3	2,8 (2,3)	24,9	3,3 (2,5)
2007	20,4	2,4 (1,9)	20,0	2,3 (1,8)	21,4	2,8 (2,1)
2013	20,9	2,5 (2,0)	21,2	2,4 (1,9)	20,3	2,6 (2,1)

Ethnic groups

Dominicans of full or predominant European descent: 17.8%, Mixed (Mestizo, Mulatto, "Indio", Triracial) descent: 74.4%, Afro descent: 7.8%

note: respondents self-identified their race; the term "indio" in the Dominican Republic is not associated with people of indigenous ancestry but people of mixed ancestry or skin color between light and dark

Religion

Roman Catholic 51.3%, Evangelical 13%, Protestant 7.9%, Adventist 1.4%, other 1.8%, atheist 0.2%, none 22.4%, unspecified 2% (2018 est.)

Languages

• Spanish (official)

See also

• Health in the Dominican Republic
• Youth in the Dominican Republic

Census information:

• 1920 Santo Domingo Census
• 1950 Dominican Republic Census
• 1960 Dominican Republic Census
• 1970 Dominican Republic Census
• 2010 Dominican Republic Census