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Botswana — Population growth
Population Growth (Annual %) for Botswana, 1961–2025.
Latest value · 2025
1.61%
Population Growth (Annual %) · annual % · -28.5% since 1961
Population growth for Botswana was 1.61% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 65 years, from 1961 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 6.03% in 1978. The lowest was 0.52% in 1968 (about 3.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.52% per year.
Botswana ranks 66 of 217 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 30%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 2.30%, so Botswana sits below it. It peaked in 1978 and has fallen 73% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 13%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
1.61%
First (1961)
2.26%
Change
-28.5%
Highest
6.03%
in 1978
Lowest
0.52%
in 1968
Average
2.46%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.52%
Years of data
65
Recent years
| Year | annual % |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.61% |
| 2024 | 1.64% |
| 2023 | 1.64% |
| 2022 | 1.59% |
| 2021 | 1.49% |
| 2020 | 1.44% |
| 2019 | 1.42% |
| 2018 | 1.42% |
| 2017 | 1.42% |
| 2016 | 1.42% |
| 2015 | 1.43% |
| 2014 | 1.45% |
Reading this correctly. Annual population growth rate. A negative value means the population shrank, usually through emigration or low birth rates. Figures are in annual %. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SP.POP.GROW — Population Growth (Annual %). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.