Burundi

AfricaCapital city: BujumburaCapital metro: BujumburaPresident: Évariste Ndayishimiye
2026 population
12.3M
Rank #80 globally
Area
28k km² (11k sq mi)
Metros tracked
3
20% of population in metros
Composite score
1.1
Rank #186 globally

population: Census (16 Aug 2024) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 3 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography3 metros

Burundi metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
3 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 3 tracked metros
3 metros
#1543Bujumbura★ Capital▲ Largest
Bujumbura · 1.6M · Local Metro
0.8
#2967Gitega
Gitega · 529K · Local Metro
0.2
#3094Ngozi
Butanyerera · 317K · Local Metro
0.1
🗂️ Provinces

5 entries listed under Burundi. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

5 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
French, English, Kirundi
Government
Presidential system
Legislature
Parliament of Burundi
Demonym
Burundian
Time zone
UTC+02:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+257
Internet TLD
.bi
ISO 3166
BI
Established
1962
Highest point
Mount Heha (2,684 m (8,806 ft))
National anthem
Burundi Bwacu

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Burundi

Rundi first; 2 languages share the country; 3 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Rundi63%Official
French59%Official
English0.1%Official
Swahili0.1%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
0%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.3
Official-language gap
37%
Rundi is spoken by 63%

Burundi on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLow income
Human Dev. Index
#185 / 191
0.439
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#166 / 193
$3.4B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#193 / 193
$234
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#189 / 190
$1.2k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#192 / 192
$240
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#176 / 194
63.8 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
15.9 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#182 / 194
26%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
2.4%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#13 / 193
533/km² (1,381/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#117 / 193
2.8%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#161 / 175
0.08
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#102 / 166
37.5
World Bank · 2020
Internet users
#192 / 193
9%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#178 / 185
34.1%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
★ #2 / 192
0.1 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#41 / 186
76%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History11 leaders · click to expand
Évariste Ndayishimiye✦ Current
President · 6y 0m
2020–Present
Pierre Nkurunziza
President · 14y 9m
2005–2020
Domitien Ndayizeye
President · 2y 3m
2003–2005
Pierre Buyoya
President · 6y 9m
1996–2003
Sylvestre Ntibantunganya
President · 1y 9m
1994–1996
Cyprien Ntaryamira
President · 0y 2m
1994–1994
Sylvie Kinigi
President · 0y 3m
1993–1994
Melchior Ndadaye
President · 0y 3m
1993–1993
Pierre Buyoya
President · 5y 10m
1987–1993
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
President · 10y 10m
1976–1987
Michel Micombero
President · 9y 11m
1966–1976
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#179 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts1 interstate war · click to expand
Zaire,Sudan,Chad,FAR,ALiR,Interahamwe,CNDD-FDD,UNITA,ADF,FLNC
Combat deaths: 235,000–250,000

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
13.7m
#78 in the world
Since 1800
15×
from 899k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.17%
0.09% in 1800
3.7m7.4m11.0m14.7m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Burundi: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
24.1m
95% band 17.1m to 34.4m
2100
37.9m
95% band 16.7m to 102m
2100 against 2025
2.63×
median still rising in 2100
26.9m53.8m80.7m108m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
117k born · 53k died · -13k net migration
TFR 6.92 · life expectancy 40.9 · median age 18.3
1960
130k born · 60k died · -15k net migration
TFR 7.00 · life expectancy 43.3 · median age 16.4
1970
169k born · 76k died · -6k net migration
TFR 7.21 · life expectancy 43.2 · median age 16.2
1980
212k born · 84k died · +149k net migration
TFR 7.35 · life expectancy 45.7 · median age 16.1
1990
262k born · 105k died · -40k net migration
TFR 7.37 · life expectancy 45.2 · median age 14.6
2000
276k born · 103k died · -40k net migration
TFR 6.87 · life expectancy 47.6 · median age 14.6
2010
440k born · 99k died · +12k net migration
TFR 6.26 · life expectancy 57.1 · median age 16.4
2020
452k born · 91k died · -10k net migration
TFR 5.18 · life expectancy 62.6 · median age 15.3

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Burundi on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.