# Demographics of the Middle East

The Demographics of the Middle East describes populations of the Middle East, a region covering western and northern parts of the Asian and African continents respectively.

## Overview

Population growth
There are 371,000,000 Muslims in Middle East
there are between 11 and 10 Million Christians across the Middle East, there are 800,000 - 1,100,000 Druze who live in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. There are large communities of Hindus in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia who number over 3.1 Million and an estimated 902,890 Buddhists and 700,000 Yazidi 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 | Million | Million | 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 definition of Middle East

Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 2018 that "by the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, 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 the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates])."

## Life expectancy

List of countries by life expectancy at birth for 2022 according to the World Bank Group:
| Countries & territories | 2022 | 2022 | 2022 | 2022 | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | Historical data | recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2022 |
| Countries & territories | All | Male | Female | Sex gap | 2014 | 2014 →2019 | 2019 | 2019 →2020 | 2020 | 2020 →2021 | 2021 | 2021 →2022 | 2022 | recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2022 |
| Israel | 82.70 | 80.70 | 84.80 | 4.10 | 82.15 | 0.65 | 82.80 | −0.16 | 82.65 | −0.15 | 82.50 | 0.20 | 82.70 | −0.10 |
| Cyprus | 81.89 | 80.07 | 83.67 | 3.61 | 80.77 | 0.63 | 81.40 | −0.01 | 81.39 | −0.19 | 81.20 | 0.69 | 81.89 | 0.49 |
| Qatar | 81.56 | 80.63 | 83.10 | 2.47 | 79.77 | 1.22 | 80.99 | −1.89 | 79.10 | 0.17 | 79.27 | 2.29 | 81.56 | 0.57 |
| Kuwait | 80.26 | 78.88 | 82.75 | 3.87 | 79.44 | 0.24 | 79.69 | −2.77 | 76.92 | 1.75 | 78.67 | 1.59 | 80.26 | 0.58 |
| Bahrain | 79.25 | 78.24 | 80.50 | 2.25 | 79.33 | 0.69 | 80.02 | −0.84 | 79.17 | −0.41 | 78.76 | 0.49 | 79.25 | −0.77 |
| United Arab Emirates | 79.20 | 77.72 | 81.41 | 3.69 | 79.04 | 0.68 | 79.73 | −0.78 | 78.95 | −0.24 | 78.71 | 0.49 | 79.20 | −0.53 |
| Turkey | 78.47 | 75.38 | 81.50 | 6.12 | 76.56 | 1.27 | 77.83 | −1.98 | 75.85 | 0.18 | 76.03 | 2.44 | 78.47 | 0.64 |
| Saudi Arabia | 77.91 | 76.67 | 79.53 | 2.86 | 76.76 | 0.55 | 77.30 | −1.06 | 76.24 | 0.70 | 76.94 | 0.97 | 77.91 | 0.60 |
| Iran | 74.56 | 71.93 | 77.45 | 5.52 | 74.78 | 1.32 | 76.10 | −1.27 | 74.83 | −0.96 | 73.88 | 0.68 | 74.56 | −1.55 |
| Lebanon | 74.42 | 72.24 | 76.60 | 4.36 | 78.97 | 0.26 | 79.24 | −1.43 | 77.80 | −2.76 | 75.05 | −0.63 | 74.42 | −4.82 |
| Jordan | 74.22 | 72.12 | 76.67 | 4.55 | 74.79 | 1.25 | 76.04 | −0.86 | 75.18 | −0.93 | 74.26 | −0.04 | 74.22 | −1.83 |
| Oman | 73.94 | 72.36 | 76.05 | 3.69 | 77.45 | 0.56 | 78.00 | −3.24 | 74.76 | −2.22 | 72.54 | 1.39 | 73.94 | −4.07 |
| Palestine | 73.44 | 71.02 | 75.95 | 4.92 | 72.62 | 2.62 | 75.24 | −0.84 | 74.40 | −0.93 | 73.47 | −0.03 | 73.44 | −1.80 |
| Syria | 72.30 | 68.67 | 76.12 | 7.45 | 63.15 | 8.67 | 71.82 | 0.32 | 72.14 | −0.08 | 72.06 | 0.24 | 72.30 | 0.48 |
| World | 72.00 | 69.60 | 74.53 | 4.93 | 71.88 | 1.10 | 72.98 | −0.74 | 72.24 | −0.92 | 71.33 | 0.67 | 72.00 | −0.98 |
| Iraq | 71.34 | 69.16 | 73.36 | 4.20 | 68.91 | 2.66 | 71.58 | −2.45 | 69.12 | 1.25 | 70.38 | 0.96 | 71.34 | −0.24 |
| Egypt | 70.16 | 67.87 | 72.56 | 4.69 | 70.42 | 0.94 | 71.36 | −0.37 | 70.99 | −0.77 | 70.22 | −0.06 | 70.16 | −1.20 |
| Yemen | 63.72 | 60.49 | 67.22 | 6.73 | 67.38 | −2.29 | 65.09 | −0.44 | 64.65 | −0.90 | 63.75 | −0.03 | 63.72 | −1.37 |

## Historical

In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:
* Anatolia - c. 6,500,000
* Iran - 4,472,000
* Yemen - 2,243,000
* Saudi Arabia - 1,809,000
* Syria - 1,175,000
* Iraq - 1,000,000
* Lebanon - 292,000
* Oman - 275,000
* Jordan - 191,000
* Palestine- 161,000
* Cyprus - 98,000
* Kuwait - 71,000
* Bahrain - 54,000
* United Arab Emirates - 35,000
In addition, the population of North Africa was 12 million, with the following breakdown within borders:
* Egypt - 5,000,000
* Algeria - 2,250,000
* Morocco - 2,250,000
* Tunisia - 2,000,000
* Libya - 500,000