Yemen
population: Official estimate (1 Jul 2023) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 8 metros tracked
🏙️ 8 tracked metros
| Metro | State | Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #692 | Sana'a▲ Largest | Amanat Al Asimaha | 3.2M | 3.0 | Emerging Metro |
| #1707 | Aden★ Capital | Aden | 1.0M | 0.6 | Local Metro |
| #2318 | Ta'izz | Taiz | 912K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
| #2391 | Seiyun | Hadramaut | 135K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
| #2909 | Ibb | Ibb | 737K | 0.2 | Local Metro |
| #2916 | Al Hudaydah | Al Hudaydah | 715K | 0.2 | Local Metro |
| #2950 | Al-Mukalla | Hadramaut | 569K | 0.2 | Local Metro |
| #3033 | Dhamar | Dhamar | 389K | 0.1 | Local Metro |
📋 At a glance
- Official language
- Arabic
- Currency
- Yemeni Rial (YER)
- Government
- Presidential system
- Legislature
- Parliament of Yemen
- Constitution
- 1991, 3 amendment events since
- Demonym
- Yemeni
- Time zone
- UTC+03:00
- Driving side
- Right
- Calling code
- +967
- Internet TLD
- .ye
- ISO 3166
- YE
- Established
- 1990
- Highest point
- Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb (3,666 m (12,028 ft))
- National anthem
- National anthem of Yemen
Facts via Wikidata.
📰 In the news2 stories
Semafor · 17 Sept 2026
Few took the Houthis seriously. A coalition is now needed to stop them.A former White House envoy warns US inaction risks empowering Houthis who now threaten a key oil route.
The Guardian · 17 Sept 2026
US officials decide against backing Saudi Arabia after meeting Houthi leadersUS officials decided not to back Saudi Arabia after meeting Houthi leaders as fighting in Yemen escalates.
💹 Economy and developmentLow income
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 & Organisations2 full memberships
Political & Economic
Regional
Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer
🏛️ Leadership History25 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.
Other
Salem Saleh bin Braik✦ Current
2025–PresentPrime Minister
Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak
2024–2025Prime Minister
Rashad al-Alimi✦ Current
2022–PresentPresident
Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed
2018–2024Prime Minister
Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher
2016–2018Prime Minister
Khaled Bahah
2014–2016President
Khaled Bahah
2014–2016Prime Minister
Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi
2012–2014President
Mohammed Basindawa
2011–2014Prime Minister
Ali Muhammad Mujawar
2007–2011Prime Minister
Abdul Qadir Bajamal
2001–2007Prime Minister
Abd Al-Karim Al-Iryani
1998–2001Prime Minister
Show all 17 leaders
Faraj Said Bin Ghanem
1997–1998Prime Minister
Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani
1994–1997Prime Minister
Muhammad Said al-Attar
1994–1994Prime Minister
Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas
1990–1994Prime Minister
Ali Abdullah Saleh
1990–2011President
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Salem Saleh bin Braik✦ Current | Prime Minister | 2025–Present |
| Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak | Prime Minister | 2024–2025 |
| Rashad al-Alimi✦ Current | President | 2022–Present |
| Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed | Prime Minister | 2018–2024 |
| Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher | Prime Minister | 2016–2018 |
| Khaled Bahah | President | 2014–2016 |
| Khaled Bahah | Prime Minister | 2014–2016 |
| Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi | President | 2012–2014 |
| Mohammed Basindawa | Prime Minister | 2011–2014 |
| Ali Muhammad Mujawar | Prime Minister | 2007–2011 |
| Abdul Qadir Bajamal | Prime Minister | 2001–2007 |
| Abd Al-Karim Al-Iryani | Prime Minister | 1998–2001 |
| Faraj Said Bin Ghanem | Prime Minister | 1997–1998 |
| Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani | Prime Minister | 1994–1997 |
| Muhammad Said al-Attar | Prime Minister | 1994–1994 |
| Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas | Prime Minister | 1990–1994 |
| Ali Abdullah Saleh | President | 1990–2011 |
Yemen Arab Republic
Ali Abdullah Saleh
1978–1990President
Ahmad al-Ghashmi
1977–1978President
Ibrahim al-Hamdi
1974–1977President
Abdul Rahman al-Iryani
1967–1974President
Abdullah as-Sallal
1962–1967President
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Abdullah Saleh | President | 1978–1990 |
| Ahmad al-Ghashmi | President | 1977–1978 |
| Ibrahim al-Hamdi | President | 1974–1977 |
| Abdul Rahman al-Iryani | President | 1967–1974 |
| Abdullah as-Sallal | President | 1962–1967 |
Mutawakkilite Kingdom
👑 Muhammad al-Badr
1962–1962Imam
👑 Ahmad bin Yahya
1948–1962Imam
👑 Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din
1918–1948Imam
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 👑 Muhammad al-Badr | Imam | 1962–1962 |
| 👑 Ahmad bin Yahya | Imam | 1948–1962 |
| 👑 Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din | Imam | 1918–1948 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
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 19458 interstate wars · click to expand
| Conflict | Years | Against | Combat deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yemeni civil war (2014–present)● | 2014–present | Al-Qaeda and allies,AQAP,Ansar al-Sharia,Council of Scholars of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'ah,Hadhrami Domestic council,Dhi Na'im tribe,Al-Hamiqan tribe,Islamic State,Yemen Province | — |
| Iraqi Kurdish Civil War | 1994–1997 | PUK,PKK,SCIRI,KCP,Iraqi National Congress,Iran (from 1995),Ba'athist Syria Syria,United States (1996),KDP,Iraq Iraq (from 1995),Turkey (from 1997),Iran (before 1995) | — |
| Yemenite War of 1979 | 1979 | South Yemen | 1,084+ |
| Ogaden War● | 1977–1978 | Somalia | 39,836+ |
| North Yemen Civil War | 1962–1970 | Kingdom of Yemen,Saudi Arabia | — |
| 1948 Arab–Israeli War● | 1948–1949 | Israel | 13,073–26,373 |
| Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) | 1934 | Saudi Arabia | — |
| Third Yemeni–Asiri War | 1924–1926 | Idrisid Emirate of Asir | — |
Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”
👥 Population over time
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 Yemen: 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.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
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
Yemen on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.
