Median age of the population in Ethiopia 1955-2020

As of 2020, the median age stood at 19.5 years in Ethiopia, which is an increase of nearly a year compared to the previous four years. Despite the increment, the median age remained low, indicating a high fertility rate among Ethiopian population. Looking at the population from a different perspective, the human development index scored countries based on health and living standards, in which Ethiopia registered a steady but low level of development in 2019. The country experienced a slight increase in the HDI score since the previous year, which was 0.48. Other measures such as the gender gap index and the economic freedom give further insights into Ethiopia’s population.

Gender gap index score

The overall gender gap index score of Ethiopia amounted to 0.69, ranking 97th out of 156 listed countries globally in 2021. It indicates the discrepancy between genders in four different areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Categorizing the index score by industry, Ethiopia scored low (0.38) in political empowerment in 2021, indicating a low share of women in politics. Health and survival, on the other hand, had a more equal score of 0.97.

Economic freedom in Ethiopia

 Concerning the economic freedom of Ethiopia, which is an index based on 12 categories ranging from property rights to financial possibilities, the country scored 53.6 in 2021. This was slightly lower compared to Africa’s average (55.1). However, Ethiopia registered a steady increase from 2013 onwards, indicating slight improvements in the economic freedom of the people living there.