Demographics of Laos

A street market in Luang Prabang.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Laos, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Laos' population was estimated at about 6 million in July 2004, dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane Prefecture, which includes Vientiane, the capital and largest city of the country, had about 569,000 residents in 1999. The country's population density is 23.4/km².

In March 2005, the total population was 5.62 million (2.82 million females, 2.80 million males) in the 2005 census, an increase of 1 047 000 since the previous 1995 census. ^[1]

Overview

The demographic makeup of the population is uncertain as the government divides the people into three groups according to the altitude at which they live, rather than according to ethnic origin. The lowland Lao (Lao Loum) account for 68%, upland Lao (Lao Theung) for 22%, and the highland Lao (Lao Soung, including the Hmong and the Yao) for 9%. Ethnic Vietnamese constitutes about 2% of the population.

Ethnic Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants and politically and culturally dominant group, make up the bulk of the Lao Loum and around 60% of the total population. The Lao are a branch of the Tai people who began migrating southward from China in the first millennium A.D. In the north, there are mountain tribes of Miao–Yao, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman - Hmong, Yao, Akha, and Lahu who migrated into the region in the 19th century. Collectively, they are known as Lao Sung or highland Lao. In the central and southern mountains, Mon–Khmer tribes known as Lao Theung or upland Lao, predominate. Some Vietnamese and Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many left in two waves - after independence in the late 1940s and again after 1975.

The predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. Animism is common among the mountain tribes. Buddhism and spirit worship coexist easily. There also is a small number of Christians and Muslims.

The official and dominant language is Lao, a tonal language of the Tai linguistic group. Midslope and highland Lao speak an assortment of tribal languages. French, once common in government and commerce, has declined in usage, while knowledge of English - the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - has increased in recent years.

With a median age of 19.3, Laos has the youngest population of Asia.

Demographics of Laos, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Lao men drinking Lao-Lao, a type of Laotian rice whiskey.

A primary school in a village in northern rural Laos

Population

Accoding to the 2010 Revision of the UN World Population Prospects ^[2], the population of Laos increased from 1.7 million in 1950 to 6.2 million in 2010. Until the year 2000 the proportion of children 0-14 years of age was over 40% of the total population. Due to decreasing fertility rates this porportion decreased to 34.5% in 2010. The proportion of elderly people is still very low (3.9%), although the proportion doubled between 1950 and 2010.

	Total population	Population aged 0-14 (%)	Population aged 15-64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	1 683	40.4	57.4	2.1
1955	1 897	41.4	56.2	2.4
1960	2 130	42.1	55.3	2.6
1965	2 391	42.2	54.9	2.9
1970	2 691	41.9	55.0	3.1
1975	3 042	42.1	54.7	3.2
1980	3 235	43.9	52.5	3.5
1985	3 648	44.0	52.4	3.6
1990	4 192	43.7	52.7	3.6
1995	4 795	43.6	52.8	3.6
2000	5 317	42.3	54.0	3.7
2005	5 753	39.1	57.1	3.8
2010	6 201	34.5	61.6	3.9

Vital statistics

Births and deaths ^[2]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	80 000	37 000	43 000	44.8	20.9	23.9	5.94	167.1
1955-1960	87 000	40 000	47 000	43.2	20.1	23.1	5.96	160.1
1960-1965	96 000	44 000	52 000	42.4	19.3	23.1	5.97	153.5
1965-1970	107 000	47 000	60 000	42.3	18.7	23.6	5.98	147.0
1970-1975	122 000	52 000	70 000	42.5	18.1	24.4	5.99	140.5
1975-1980	132 000	54 000	78 000	42.2	17.2	25.0	6.15	132.4
1980-1985	145 000	56 000	90 000	42.2	16.2	26.0	6.36	122.6
1985-1990	165 000	56 000	109 000	42.1	14.4	27.7	6.27	107.6
1990-1995	180 000	53 000	127 000	40.0	11.9	28.1	5.88	88.3
1995-2000	170 000	48 000	122 000	33.6	9.4	24.2	4.81	70.8
2000-2005	154 000	44 000	110 000	27.8	7.9	19.9	3.70	58.2
2005-2010	144 000	39 000	105 000	24.1	6.6	17.5	3.02	44.5

• 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)

Ethnic groups

In Luang Prabang, a young woman at the time of a Hmong Meeting Festival

Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos.^[3] For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities.^[3] whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups.^[3] The term ethnic minorities is used by some to classify the non-Lao ethnic groups, while the term indigenous peoples is not used by the Lao PDR.^[3] These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages.^[4]

Lao 55%, Khmu 11%, Hmong 8%, Vietnamese 2%, other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26% (2005 census).

Population of Laos according to ethnic group in 1995 and 2005

Ethnic group	Language family	census 1995[5]		census 2005[5]
		Number	%	Number	%
Lao	Tai-Kadai	2,403,891	52.5	3,067,005	54.6
Khmu	Mon-Khmer	500,957	11.0	613,893	10.9
Hmong	Hmong-Mien	315,465	6.9	415,946	8.0
Thai	Tai-Kadai			215,254	3.8
Puthai	Tai-Kadai	472,458	10.3	187,391	3.3
Leu	Tai-Kadai	119,191	2.6	123,054	2.2
Katang	Mon-Khmer	95,440	2.1	118,276	2.1
Makong	Mon-Khmer	92,321	2.0	117,872	2.1
Akha (Kor)	Tibeto-Burman	66,108	1.4	90,698	1.6
Xuay		45,498	1.0	42,834	0.8
Singsily				37,447	0.7
Taoey	Mon-Khmer	30,876	0.7	32,177	0.6
Nhuane		26,239	0.6	29,442	0.5
Iewmien (Yao)	Hmong-Mien	22,665	0.5	27,449	0.5
Phong	Mon-Khmer	21,395	0.5	26,314	0.5
Brao (Lavae)	Mon-Khmer	17,544	0.4	22,772	0.4
Katu	Mon-Khmer	17,024	0.4	22,759	0.4
Oey	Mon-Khmer	14,947	0.3	22,458	0.4
Pray	Mon-Khmer	15,000 [4]	0.3	21,922	0.4
Lamed	Mon-Khmer	16,740	0.3	19,827	0.4
Lahu (Musir)	Tibeto-Burman	8,702	0.2	15,238	0.3
Thaneua	Tai-Kadai			14,799	0.3
Kriang (Ngae)	Mon-Khmer	12,189	0.3	12,879	0.2
Hor		8,900	0.2	10,437	0.2
Xingmoon (Puoc)	Mon-Khmer	5,834	0.1	8,565	0.2
Jeng	Mon-Khmer	6,511	0.1	7,559	0.1
Nhahem		5,152	0.1	6,785	0.1
Kmer		3,902	0.1	5,825	0.1
Toum (Hung)	Mon-Khmer	2,510	0.05	4,458	0.08
Xaek	Tai-Kadai	2,745	0.06	3.733	0.07
Samtao	Mon-Khmer	2,213	0.05	3,533	0.06
Sila (Sida)	Tibeto-Burman	1,772	0.04	2,939	0.05
Tri		20,906	0.5	2.668	0.05
Harak				2,128	0.04
Bid	Mon-Khmer	1,509	0.03	1,691	0.03
Lolo	Tibeto-Burman	1,407	0.03	1,691	0.03
Pako	Mon-Khmer	13,224	0.3	1,675	0.03
Lavy	Mon-Khmer	538	0.01	1,193	0.02
Yae	Mon-Khmer	8,013	0.2	1,057	0.02
Sadang	Mon-Khmer	786	0.02	938	0.02
Hanyi	Tibeto-Burman	1,122	0.02	848	0.02
Nguane		1,344	0.03	722	0.01
Oedou	Mon-Khmer			649	0.01
Yang		4,630	0.1	616	0.01
Moy				534	0.01
Thin (Mal)	Mon-Khmer	23,193	0.51	514	0.01
Kree		739	0.02	495	0.01
Laven	Mon-Khmer	40,519	0.9
Phounoy	Tibeto-Burman	35,635	0.8
Talieng	Mon-Khmer	23,091	0.5
Alack	Mon-Khmer	16,594	0.4
Kui	Mon-Khmer	6,268	0.1
Khir		1,639	0.04
Mone		217	0.00
Others & not stated		19,285	0.4	216,780	3.9
Total		4,574,848		5,621,982

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 56.68 years (2009 est.)
male: 54.56 years (2009 est.)
female: 58.9years (2009 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian

Religions: Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (see Religion in Laos)

Languages: Lao (official), French, English, Vietnamese, and various ethnic languages

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68.7%
male: 77%
female: 60.9% (2001 est.)

See also

• List of ethnic groups in Laos

References

1. ^ Population Census 2005
2. ^ ^{a b} Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Indigenous Peoples Development Planning Document
4. ^ ^{a b} Ethnologue report for Laos
5. ^ ^{a b} UN Demographic Yearbooks

Sources

• CIA World Factbook
• Lao Statistics Bureau