Eswatini

AfricaCapital city: MbabaneCapital metro: MbabaneKing: Mswati IIIPrime Minister: Russell Dlamini

a monarch.

2026 population
1.2M
Rank #163 globally
Area
17k km² (7k sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
28% of population in metros
Composite score
0.4
Rank #214 globally

population: Official projection (1 Jul 2024) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Eswatini metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 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.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2097Mbabane★ Capital▲ Largest
Hhohho · 346K · Local Metro
0.4
🗂️ Regions

4 entries listed under Eswatini. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

4 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
English, Swazi
Government
Absolute monarchy
Legislature
Parliament of Eswatini
Demonym
Swazi
Time zones
South Africa Standard Time, UTC+02:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+268
Internet TLD
.sz
ISO 3166
SZ
Established
1968
Highest point
Emlembe (1,862 m (6,109 ft))
National anthem
Nkulunkulu Mnikati wetibusiso temaSwati

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Eswatini

English first; 2 languages share the country; 2 official.

LanguageShareStatus
English80%Official
Swati58%Official
Zulu6.8%None
Tsonga1.7%None

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

English reach
80%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
20%
English is spoken by 80%

Eswatini on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#125 / 191
0.695
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#161 / 193
$5.2B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#128 / 193
$4.1k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#120 / 190
$12.5k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#132 / 192
$3.7k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#170 / 194
64.3 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
22.0 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#178 / 194
27%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.1%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#116 / 193
72/km² (185/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#119 / 193
2.7%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#134 / 175
0.23
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#164 / 166
54.6
World Bank · 2016
Internet users
#132 / 193
63%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#81 / 185
2.6%
World Bank · 2019
CO₂ per capita
#51 / 192
0.8 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#15 / 186
97%
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

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History15 leaders · click to expand

marks a monarch.

Russell Dlamini✦ Current
Prime Minister · 2y 7m
2023–Present
Cleopas Dlamini
Prime Minister · 2y 2m
2021–2023
Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini
Prime Minister · 2y 1m
2018–2020
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
Prime Minister · 9y 10m
2008–2018
Themba Dlamini
Prime Minister · 4y 10m
2003–2008
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
Prime Minister · 7y 2m
1996–2003
Jameson Mbilini Dlamini
Prime Minister · 2y 6m
1993–1996
Obed Dlamini
Prime Minister · 4y 3m
1989–1993
Sotsha Dlamini
Prime Minister · 2y 9m
1986–1989
Mswati III✦ Current
King · 40y 2m
1986–Present
Bhekimpi Dlamini
Prime Minister · 3y 6m
1983–1986
Mabandla Dlamini
Prime Minister · 3y 4m
1979–1983
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#204 · 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.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
1.2m
#160 in the world
Since 1800
14×
from 86k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.01%
0.01% in 1800
317k635k952k1.3m18001850190019502000

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 Eswatini: 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
2063
1.5m on the UN median
2050
1.5m
95% band 1.2m to 1.9m
2100
1.3m
95% band 659k to 2.6m
2100 against 2025
1.07×
median falling from 2064
Deaths outnumber births
from 2077
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
694k1.4m2.1m2.8m1950197520002025205020752100
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
14k born · 6k died · -1k net migration
TFR 6.73 · life expectancy 43.4 · median age 17.3
1960
16k born · 6k died · -2k net migration
TFR 6.75 · life expectancy 46.4 · median age 15.5
1970
22k born · 7k died · -3k net migration
TFR 6.75 · life expectancy 51.2 · median age 15.2
1980
30k born · 7k died · -3k net migration
TFR 6.57 · life expectancy 58.2 · median age 14.6
1990
35k born · 7k died · +7k net migration
TFR 5.29 · life expectancy 61.2 · median age 15.0
2000
34k born · 15k died · -9k net migration
TFR 4.03 · life expectancy 47.6 · median age 16.4
2010
34k born · 17k died · -11k net migration
TFR 3.38 · life expectancy 48.3 · median age 18.6
2020
30k born · 11k died · -4k net migration
TFR 2.89 · life expectancy 59.9 · median age 21.3

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

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