Somalia

AfricaCapital city: MogadishuCapital metro: MogadishuPresident: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
2026 population
19.7M
Rank #68 globally
Area
638k km² (246k sq mi)
Metros tracked
2
16% of population in metros
Composite score
2.8
Rank #164 globally

population: UN projection (1 Jul 2025) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 2 metros tracked

🏙️ 2 tracked metros
2 metros
#823Mogadishu★ Capital▲ Largest
2.2
🗂️ Regions

18 entries listed under Somalia. Click any to see its metros and footprint.

18 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
Somali, Arabic
Government
Federal republic
Legislature
Federal Parliament of Somalia
Demonym
Somali
Time zone
UTC+03:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+252
Internet TLD
.so
ISO 3166
SO
Established
1960
Highest point
Shimbiris (2,460 m (8,071 ft))
National anthem
Qolobaa Calankeed

Facts via Wikidata.

💹 Economy and developmentLow income
Human Dev. Index
#190 / 191
0.404
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#147 / 193
$13.0B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#187 / 193
$661
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#187 / 190
$1.6k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#186 / 192
$640
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#189 / 194
59.0 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
15.4 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#124 / 194
55%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
3.3%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#151 / 193
29/km²
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#177 / 193
0.4%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#147 / 175
0.17
V-Dem · 2025
Internet users
#172 / 193
28%
World Bank · 2024
CO₂ per capita
#3 / 192
0.1 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#117 / 186
21%
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 & Organisations5 full memberships

Political & Economic

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History40 leaders · click to expand

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

Hamza Abdi Barre

2022

Prime Minister

Tenure: 4y 0m

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud✦ Current

2022Present

President

Tenure: 4y 1m

Mohamed Hussein Roble

20202022

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 9m

Mahdi Mohammed Gulaid

20202020

Acting Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 1m

Hassan Ali Khaire

20172020

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 4m

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed

20172022

President

Tenure: 5y 3m

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke

20142017

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 2m

Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed

20132014

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 0m

Abdi Farah Shirdon

20122013

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 2m

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

20122017

President

Tenure: 4y 5m

Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle

20122012

Acting President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali

20112012

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 3m
Show all 40 leaders

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed

20102011

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 7m

Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh

20102010

Acting Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 1m

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke

20092010

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 7m

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

20092012

President

Tenure: 3y 6m

Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe

20082009

Acting President

Tenure: 0y 1m

Nur Hassan Hussein

20072009

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 2m

Salim Aliyow Ibrow

20072007

Acting Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Ali Mohammed Ghedi

20042007

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 10m

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

20042008

President

Tenure: 4y 2m

Muhammad Abdi Yusuf

20032004

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 0m

Hassan Abshir Farah

20012003

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 0m

Osman Jama Ali

20012001

Acting Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Ali Khalif Galaydh

20002001

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 0m

Abdiqasim Salad Hassan

20002004

President

Tenure: 4y 1m

Ali Mahdi Mohamed

19912000

President

Tenure: 9y 7m

Umar Arteh Ghalib

19911997

Prime Minister

Tenure: 5y 11m

Muhammad Hawadle Madar

19901991

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 4m

Mohammad Ali Samatar

19871990

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 7m

Mohamed Siad Barre

19761991

President

Tenure: 14y 6m

Mohamed Siad Barre

19691976

Chairman

Tenure: 6y 8m

Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein

19691969

Acting President

Tenure: 0y 0m

Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal

19671969

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 3m

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke

19671969

President

Tenure: 2y 3m

Abdirizak Haji Hussein

19641967

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 1m

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke

19601964

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 11m

Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal

19601960

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar

19601967

President

Tenure: 7y 0m

Abdullahi Issa

19561960

Prime Minister

Tenure: 4y 4m
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#158 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)
Somalia · share of world power, 1960–2026

The powerline 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.

⚔️ Conflicts since 19454 interstate wars · click to expand
European Union,EUTM Somalia,United Nations UNPOS (1995–2013),United Nations UNSOM (2013–2024),United Nations UNTMIS (2025–present),United Nations UNSOA (2009–2016),United Nations UNSOS (2016–present),Independent regional forces,Puntland,Jubaland,Al-Qaeda and allies,Al-Shabaab
Combat deaths:
Ogaden War1977–1978
Combat deaths: 39,836+
Combat deaths: 1,000–2,000

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

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
18.4m
#68 in the world
Since 1800
19×
from 989k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.23%
0.10% in 1800
5.1m10.2m15.2m20.3m18001850190019502000
Somalia · people, 1800–2023 · dashed to 2026 is projected

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 Somalia: 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
37.2m
95% band 23.9m to 60.1m
2100
67.4m
95% band 27.5m to 223m
2100 against 2025
3.43×
median still rising in 2100
58.5m117m175m234m1950197520002025205020752100

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

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
112k born · 49k died · +1k net migration
TFR 7.25 · life expectancy 41.5 · median age 18.5
1960
134k born · 61k died · +750 net migration
TFR 7.25 · life expectancy 43.5 · median age 17.0
1970
170k born · 72k died · +1k net migration
TFR 7.18 · life expectancy 45.6 · median age 16.4
1980
282k born · 107k died · +66k net migration
TFR 7.18 · life expectancy 47.6 · median age 16.5
1990
356k born · 131k died · -248k net migration
TFR 7.44 · life expectancy 46.9 · median age 15.4
2000
446k born · 139k died · +54k net migration
TFR 7.64 · life expectancy 50.7 · median age 15.2
2010
589k born · 204k died · -88k net migration
TFR 7.32 · life expectancy 48.9 · median age 14.6
2020
742k born · 180k died · +77k net migration
TFR 6.45 · life expectancy 57.1 · median age 15.3
Show all 16 decades
2030
878k born · 210k died · +11k net migration
TFR 5.35 · life expectancy 59.9 · median age 15.9
2040
987k born · 253k died · +15k net migration
TFR 4.35 · life expectancy 61.2 · median age 17.8
2050
1.1m born · 301k died · -25k net migration
TFR 3.60 · life expectancy 62.6 · median age 20.2
2060
1.1m born · 361k died · +46k net migration
TFR 3.10 · life expectancy 63.9 · median age 22.7
2070
1.1m born · 438k died · +8k net migration
TFR 2.75 · life expectancy 65.1 · median age 25.3
2080
1.1m born · 529k died · -29k net migration
TFR 2.51 · life expectancy 66.2 · median age 27.9
2090
1.1m born · 627k died · +15k net migration
TFR 2.32 · life expectancy 67.4 · median age 30.3
2100
1.1m born · 732k died · -40k net migration
TFR 2.19 · life expectancy 68.6 · median age 32.5

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

Somalia on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.