Demographics of East Timor

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

Demographics of East Timor
Population pyramid of East Timor in 2020
Population	1,445,006 (2022 est.)
Growth rate	2.15% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	30.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	5.61 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	69.92 years
• male	68.25 years
• female	71.7 years
Fertility rate	4.21 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	33.69 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-3.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	38.29%
15–64 years	56.38%
65 and over	5.33%
Sex ratio
Total	1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.79 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Timorese

East Timor's population (1861-2011).

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Registration of vital events is in East Timor not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Population estimates account for under numeration in population censuses.

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	415	18	15	3	43.4	35.9	7.5	6.61	274.2	29.05
1951	418	18	14	4	43.7	34.2	9.5	6.59	271.8	29.30
1952	423	19	14	4	43.9	33.4	10.5	6.56	268.5	29.62
1953	427	19	14	5	44.2	32.9	11.2	6.54	265.8	29.89
1954	432	19	14	5	44.4	32.5	11.9	6.51	262.8	30.20
1955	437	20	14	5	44.6	32.1	12.5	6.48	259.7	30.52
1956	443	20	14	6	44.8	31.8	13.0	6.45	256.7	30.83
1957	449	20	14	6	45.1	31.6	13.5	6.42	254.0	31.12
1958	455	21	14	6	45.3	31.3	14.0	6.39	251.3	31.40
1959	462	21	14	7	45.5	31.1	14.4	6.36	248.6	31.70
1960	469	21	14	7	45.7	30.6	15.1	6.32	244.3	32.20
1961	476	22	14	7	45.7	30.2	15.5	6.27	241.1	32.57
1962	483	22	14	8	45.7	29.9	15.9	6.22	237.9	32.95
1963	491	22	15	8	45.6	29.5	16.1	6.16	235.4	33.26
1964	499	23	15	8	45.5	29.2	16.3	6.08	232.5	33.60
1965	507	23	14	9	45.2	28.3	16.9	6.01	226.4	34.36
1966	516	23	14	9	44.9	27.6	17.2	5.93	221.2	35.00
1967	525	23	14	9	44.5	26.9	17.6	5.86	215.3	35.73
1968	535	24	14	9	44.1	26.3	17.7	5.79	211.5	36.23
1969	544	24	14	10	43.6	25.8	17.8	5.72	207.8	36.71
1970	554	24	14	10	43.1	25.3	17.8	5.66	204.3	37.17
1971	564	24	14	10	42.4	24.6	17.7	5.58	200.2	37.72
1972	574	24	14	10	41.6	24.0	17.6	5.49	195.8	38.32
1973	584	24	14	10	40.7	23.2	17.5	5.39	190.7	38.99
1974	592	24	15	9	39.8	25.0	14.8	5.29	200.8	36.88
1975	600	23	24	− 0	39.1	39.8	−0.7	5.19	241.2	24.83
1976	610	23	23	0	38.3	37.9	0.4	5.12	229.8	25.96
1977	619	23	24	−1	37.9	39.9	−2.0	5.09	242.6	24.43
1978	628	24	27	− 4	37.9	43.8	−5.9	5.09	266.9	21.84
1979	635	24	27	− 2	38.3	42.3	−3.9	5.14	258.8	22.53
1980	642	25	21	3	39.0	33.6	5.4	5.22	203.3	28.45
1981	649	27	21	6	41.3	32.5	8.8	5.53	193.5	29.57
1982	655	27	21	7	41.6	31.3	10.3	5.56	183.4	30.82
1983	662	28	20	7	41.9	30.6	11.3	5.59	177.0	31.64
1984	671	28	19	9	42.2	28.4	13.7	5.61	161.5	33.75
1985	682	29	19	9	42.4	28.5	13.9	5.65	161.4	33.80
1986	694	29	19	10	42.5	28.1	14.5	5.67	157.4	34.34
1987	708	30	19	11	42.5	26.7	15.7	5.68	148.7	35.64
1988	723	31	19	11	42.5	26.6	15.8	5.72	148.4	35.75
1989	740	31	14	17	42.3	19.1	23.3	5.76	144.4	44.55
1990	758	32	14	18	42.2	18.7	23.5	5.81	142.6	44.95
1991	773	32	14	18	41.8	18.4	23.3	5.84	140.8	44.99
1992	784	33	14	19	41.6	17.5	24.1	5.87	134.2	46.28
1993	795	33	13	20	41.2	16.8	24.4	5.88	128.5	47.25
1994	807	33	13	20	40.9	16.1	24.8	5.91	123.6	48.25
1995	819	33	13	20	40.6	16.3	24.3	5.94	123.5	48.02
1996	831	34	13	20	40.2	15.8	24.4	5.94	118.7	48.82
1997	843	34	13	21	39.9	15.4	24.5	5.96	114.2	49.52
1998	855	34	13	21	39.6	15.7	23.9	5.96	115.1	49.12
1999	867	34	16	19	39.4	18.0	21.4	5.97	118.0	45.70
2000	878	35	9	26	39.1	10.2	28.9	5.98	77.0	58.57
2001	893	35	9	26	39.1	9.9	29.2	6.01	73.3	59.36
2002	910	36	9	27	39.0	9.6	29.4	6.02	69.7	60.15
2003	927	36	9	27	38.3	9.3	29.0	5.95	66.5	60.87
2004	946	36	9	27	37.6	9.1	28.5	5.85	63.1	61.63
2005	969	35	9	27	36.5	8.8	27.7	5.71	59.8	62.33
2006	995	35	8	27	35.4	8.5	26.9	5.56	56.7	63.07
2007	1 019	35	8	26	34.2	8.3	25.9	5.40	53.9	63.72
2008	1 043	35	8	26	33.2	8.1	25.1	5.23	51.4	64.33
2009	1 066	35	9	26	32.3	8.0	24.3	5.04	49.2	64.85
2010	1 088	34	9	26	31.4	8.0	23.4	4.85	47.3	65.30
2011	1 113	34	9	25	30.7	7.9	22.8	4.66	45.7	65.70
2012	1 138	34	9	25	29.8	7.7	22.1	4.44	44.1	66.08
2013	1 162	34	9	25	29.1	7.6	21.5	4.27	42.6	66.44
2014	1 185	34	9	25	28.4	7.6	20.9	4.09	41.2	66.79
2015	1 206	33	9	24	27.7	7.5	20.2	3.90	39.8	67.14
2016	1 225	33	9	24	27.0	7.3	19.7	3.74	38.5	67.45
2017	1 243	33	9	24	26.5	7.2	19.3	3.60	37.3	67.75
2018	1 262	33	9	24	25.9	7.0	18.9	3.45	36.2	68.02
2019	1 280	33	9	24	25.5	6.9	18.6	3.34	35.2	68.27
2020	1 300	33	9	24	25.3	6.8	18.4	3.25	34.2	68.48
2021	1 321	33	10	23	24.9	7.2	17.7	3.15	33.4	67.74

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2003	52.1	7.8	50.5	7.4
2009–2010	33.2	5.7 (5.1)	33.1	4.9 (4.2)	33.2	6.0 (5.4)
2016	26.8	4.2 (3.5)	28.4	3.5 (3.0)	26.2	4.6 (3.8)

Fertility rate by municipality

Aileu Municipality and Ainaro Municipality have the highest fertility rate with 5.5 children per woman, followed by Ermera Municipality with 5.4 children per woman.

Municipality	Fertility rate in 2004	Fertility rate in 2010	Fertility rate in 2015	Decline between 2004 and 2015
Dili	6.7	5.3	3.9	2.8
Liquiçá	7.1	6.2	5.1	2.0
Covalima	7.0	5.6	4.7	2.3
Manufahi	7.3	5.6	4.9	2.4
Manatuto	6.7	5.6	4.6	2.1
Aileu	8.4	7.0	5.5	3.0
Lautém	7.7	6.4	5.2	2.5
Bobonaro	6.9	5.9	4.7	2.2
Baucau	6.9	5.8	4.7	2.2
Viqueque	6.3	5.3	4.6	1.7
Ermera	8.2	6.9	5.4	2.8
Ainaro	8.3	6.4	5.5	2.8
Oecusse (SAR)	6.9	5.2	4.2	2.7
Timor-Leste	7.2	5.9	4.7	2.5

Between 2014/15, around 43.5% of the births occurred in a health facility, up from 36.3% in 2010/11. This percentage varies widely from 77.5% in Dili Municipality to only 15.1% of all births in Ermera Municipality.

Life expectancy at birth

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	30.0	1985–1990	46.5
1955–1960	32.5	1990–1995	50.5
1960–1965	35.0	1995–2000	57.0
1965–1970	37.5	2000–2005	61.5
1970–1975	40.0	2005–2010	66.4
1975–1980	31.2	2010–2015	67.7
1980–1985	39.9

Population pyramids

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 11.VII.2015)

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	601 112	582 531	1 183 643	100
0-4	77 896	72 410	150 306	12.70
5-9	80 377	75 705	156 082	13.19
10-14	80 721	75 548	156 269	13.20
15-19	69 839	67 033	136 872	11.56
20-24	52 759	54 244	107 003	9.04
25-29	45 486	47 464	92 950	7.85
30-34	35 934	36 461	72 395	6.12
35-39	24 245	24 645	48 890	4.13
40-44	29 097	26 779	55 876	4.72
45-49	25 044	22 274	47 318	4.00
50-54	18 661	16 776	35 437	2.99
55-59	14 436	12 867	27 303	2.31
60-64	13 864	14 516	28 380	2.40
65-69	14 611	16 427	31 038	2.62
70-74	8 949	9 204	18 153	1.53
75-79	4 862	5 009	9 961	0.84
80-84	2 399	2 798	5 197	0.44
85+	1 932	2 281	4 213	0.36
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	238 994	223 663	462 657	39.09
15-64	329 365	323 059	652 334	55.11
65+	32 753	35 809	68 562	5.79

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2018) (Data refer to national projections.):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	642 639	618 768	1 261 407	100
0–4	86 042	78 681	164 723	13.06
5–9	84 950	76 259	161 209	12.78
10–14	82 088	75 015	157 103	12.45
15–19	75 602	71 942	147 544	11.70
20–24	60 513	60 703	121 216	9.61
25–29	46 777	50 239	97 016	7.69
30–34	40 344	42 718	83 062	6.58
35–39	28 909	30 013	58 922	4.67
40–44	24 228	23 965	48 193	3.82
45–49	27 718	25 146	52 864	4.19
50–54	21 620	19 325	40 945	3.25
55–59	16 674	15 419	32 093	2.54
60–64	14 583	14 712	29 295	2.32
65-69	11 764	12 441	24 205	1.92
70-74	9 187	9 388	18 575	1.47
75-79	6 452	6 789	13 241	1.05
80+	5 188	6 013	11 201	0.89
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	253 080	229 955	483 035	38.29
15–64	356 968	354 182	711 150	56.38
65+	32 591	34 631	67 222	5.33

Median age

In 2015 the median age of the population was 19.6 years old. The population living in rural areas is slightly younger (19.0) compared to the population living in urban areas (20.6). Ainaro Municipality has the lowest median age with 17.3 years, while Dili Municipality has the highest median age with 21.2 years.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

An East Timorese man partially dressed in traditional clothing

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook

Population

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

1,242,000 (2017)

Birth rate

33.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

5.9 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Population growth rate

2.36% (2017 est.)

Net migration rate

-3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 35.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68.4 years

male: 66.8 years

female: 70.1 years (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.97 children born/woman (2017 est)

Nationality

noun: East Timorese

adjective: East Timorese

Ethnic groups

Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese particularly Cantonese people and Europeans particularly Portuguese people descent.

Religions

Roman Catholic 97.6% (2015 est.)

Protestant/Evangelical 2% (2015 est.)

Islam 0.2% (2015 est.)

Other 0.2% (2015 est.)

Languages

Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian (constitutionally defined as a 'working language') and English (constitutionally defined as a 'working language').

Note: There are a total of about 16 indigenous languages, of which Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people. The Tetum language is partially influenced by European languages, particularly Portuguese, a legacy of Portuguese rule.

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population	67.5%
male	71.5%
female	63.4%

(2015 est.)

After achieving independence, East Timor had a high illiteracy rate, with 55% of women and 46% of men illiterate. Approximately 18% of the adult population had achieved secondary education and approximately 1.4% of them had an academic degree or achieved other higher education, nearly all of whom resided in urban areas, primarily the capital Dili. Attempts to improve education services face challenges in the form of a lack of educated and experienced teachers. Continuing high fertility rates also translates to greater strains on the government to increase education budgets. The United Nations (UN) has assisted in rebuilding the education system increasing the number of teachers and rehabilitating many schools, leading to a rapid increase in school enrollment. However, problems remain as the quality of education was deemed secondary to the need to increase enrollment in East Timor.

Another problem faced in increasing the education levels includes the economic conditions of the population. With high proportions of the population living below the poverty line and large households with many children, the direct costs of schooling is significant for families. Lack of monetary resources to send children to school imposes greater difficulty in increasing enrollment rates in schools. In addition, parents may be disillusioned with the poor quality of education and thus may not even be interested to send their children to schools. Much remains to be done to establish a new curriculum and support it with texts and learning materials to improve the quality of education. The variety of language spoken also means a large number of children do not speak the language of instruction – Portuguese – and this causes them to be marginalised. Many teachers do not speak Portuguese.

The inaccessibility of schools with proper facilities adds to the problem of providing adequate education to the population. Schools are located far away from homes and, coupled with the poor conditions of schools, may inhibit the early enrollment of children or lead to early drop-outs. Schools in rural areas face substantial lack of facilities to render them safe. As for the schools in urban areas, significant urban migration has meant that the supply of schools in urban areas have not managed to keep up with the increasing demand; leading to overcrowding in urban schools.

Besides the problems faced at the level of the individual households and the schools, problems in the governance and management of education are also significant impediments to raising education levels in East Timor. The lack of qualified personnel in critical positions within the education ministry has meant that overall policy making, planning and management functions are restricted. Management of schools at the district level is often under-qualified due to the lack of formal training. Today therefore, East Timor faces many challenges in increasing the literacy rates of their people.

At the end of Portuguese rule, literacy was at 5%. East Timor's adult literacy rate in 2010 was 58.3%, up from 37.6% in 2001. By 2021 it was 68% among adults, and 84% among those aged 15–24, being slightly higher among women than men.

Education

Escola Portuguesa Ruy Cinatti, the Portuguese School of Díli

East Timor's adult literacy rate in 2010 was 58.3%, up from 37.6% in 2001. At the end of Portuguese rule, literacy was at 5%. By 2021 it was 68% among adults, and 84% among those aged 15-24, being slightly higher among women than men. More girls than boys attend school, although some drop out upon reaching puberty. Primary schools exist throughout the country, although the quality of materials and teaching is often poor. Secondary schools are generally limited to municipal capitals. Education takes up 10% of the national budget.

As of 2016 22% of working age women (15-49) and 19% of working age men had no education, 15% of women and 18% of men had some primary education, 52% of women and 51% of men had some secondary education, and 11% of women and 12% of men had higher education. Overall, 75% of women and 82% of men were literate.

The country's main university is the National University of East Timor. There are also four colleges.

Since independence, both Indonesian and Tetum have lost ground as media of instruction, while Portuguese has increased: in 2001 only 8.4% of primary school and 6.8% of secondary school students attended a Portuguese-medium school; by 2005 this had increased to 81.6% for primary and 46.3% for secondary schools. Indonesian formerly played a considerable role in education, being used by 73.7% of all secondary school students as a medium of instruction, but by 2005 Portuguese was used by most schools in Baucau, Manatuto, as well as the capital district. Portugal provides support to about 3% of the public schools in East Timor, focused on those in urban areas, further encouraging the use of the Portuguese language.

The Philippines has sent Filipino teachers to East Timor to teach English, so as to facilitate a program between the two countries, under which deserving East Timorese nationals with English language skills will be granted university scholarships in the Philippines.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Timor-Leste is fulfilling only 84.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Timor-Leste income level, the nation is achieving 90.6% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 78.4% for secondary education.

External links

• Fernandes, Ajito; Prabawa, Titi Susilowati; Therik, Wilson M. A. (April 2022). "The Livelihood of Chinese Migrants in Timor-Leste". Social Sciences. 11 (4): 157. doi:10.3390/socsci11040157. ISSN 2076-0760.