Demographics of the Marshall Islands explained

The demographics of the Marshall Islands include data such as population density, ethnicity, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Historical population figures for the Marshall Islands are unknown. In 1862, the population of the islands was estimated at 10,000.^[1] In 1960, the population of the Islands was approximately 15,000. The 2021 census counted 42,418 residents, 23,156 of whom (approximately 54.6%) lived on Majuro. 77.7% of the population lived in an urban setting on Majuro or Ebeye, the country's the secondary urban center. The Marshallese census figures exclude Marshall Islanders who have relocated elsewhere; the Compact of Free Association allows them to freely relocate to the United States and obtain work there.^[2] Approximately 4,300 Marshall Islands natives relocated to Springdale, Arkansas in the United States; this figure represents the largest population concentration of Marshall Islands natives outside their island home.^[3]

Most residents of the Marshall Islands are Marshallese. Marshallese people are of Micronesian origin and are believed to have migrated from Asia to the Marshall Islands several thousand years ago. A minority of the Marshallese have Asian and European ancestry such as Japanese and German. A Majority have Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry. About one-half of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye Atolls.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

The official languages of the Marshall Islands are English and Marshallese. Both languages are widely spoken.^[8]

Vital statistics

Births and deaths

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
1988	43,380							7.2
1999	50,840	2,125			41.8	4.9	36.9	5.71
2011	53,158	1,641			32.1	3.7	28.4	4.05
2021^[9]	42,418	704						3.4

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 03.IV.2011):^[10]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	27 243	25 915	53 158	100
0–4	4 031	3 712	7 743	14.57
5–9	3 622	3 395	7 017	13.20
10–14	3 385	3 108	6 493	12.21
15–19	2 417	2 314	4 731	8.90
20–24	2 614	2 480	5 094	9.58
25–29	2 159	2 245	4 404	8.28
30–34	1 876	1 913	3 789	7.13
35–39	1 587	1 549	3 136	5.90
40–44	1 419	1 366	2 785	5.24
45–49	1 189	1 155	2 344	4.41
50–54	1 016	914	1 930	3.63
55–59	815	761	1 576	2.96
60–64	583	469	1 052	1.98
65-69	284	283	522	0.98
70-74	131	119	250	0.47
75-79	62	90	152	0.29
80-84	31	61	92	0.17
85-89	21	15	36	0.07
90-94	1	11	12	0.02
95+	0	0	0	0
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	11 038	10 215	21 253	39.98
15–64	15 675	15 121	30 796	57.93
65+	530	579	1 109	2.09

Religion

See main article: Religion in the Marshall Islands. Major religious groups in the Republic of the Marshall Islands include the United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands, with 51.5% of the population; the Assemblies of God, 24.2%; the Roman Catholic Church, 8.4%;^[11] and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 8.3%.^[11] Also represented are Bukot Nan Jesus (also known as Assembly of God Part Two), 2.2%; Baptist, 1.0%; Seventh-day Adventists, 0.9%; Full Gospel, 0.7%; and the Baháʼí Faith, 0.6%.^[11] Persons without any religious affiliation account for a very small percentage of the population.^[11] Islam is also present through Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which is based in Majuro, with the first mosque opening in the capital in September 2012.^[12]

Health

See main article: Health in the Marshall Islands. During the Castle Bravo test of the first deployable thermonuclear bomb, a miscalculation resulted in the explosion being over twice as large as predicted. The nuclear fallout spread eastward onto the inhabited Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls. These islands were not evacuated before the explosion. Many of the Marshall Islands natives have since suffered from radiation burns and radioactive dusting, suffering the similar fates as the Japanese fishermen aboard the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, but have received little, if any, compensation from the federal government.^[13]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Source:^[14]

Population

• 77,917 (July 2020 est.)

Age structure

• 0–14 years: 32.94% (male 13,090/female 12,575)
• 15–24 years: 19.09% (male 7,568/female 7,308)
• 25–54 years: 37.35% (male 14,834/female 14,270)
• 55–64 years: 5.92% (male 2,269/female 2,341)
• 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 1,805/female 1,857) (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

• 1.43% (2020 est.)

Birth rate

• 22.8 births/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Death rate

• 4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Net migration rate

• -4.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 0–14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 15–24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 25–54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 55–64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
• Total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

• Total: 17.4 deaths/1,000 live births
• Male: 19.7 deaths/1,000 live births
• Female: 15.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

• Total population: 74.1 years
• Male: 71.8 years
• Female: 76.5 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

• 2.86 children born/woman (2020 est.)

Nationality

• Marshallese (singular and plural)
• Marshallese (adjective)

Ethnic groups

• Marshallese

92.1%

• Mixed Marshallese: 5.9%
• Other: 2% (2006)

Religions

• Protestant

80.5%

• United Church

47%

• Assembly of God

16.2%

• Roman Catholic

8.5%

• Bukot nan Jesus: 5.4%
• Latter-day Saints

1.4%

• Other Christian: 10.5%
• Other: 1.2%
• None: 1.1%

Languages

• Marshallese (official): 98.2%
• other languages 1.8%

Notes and References

1. Book: Beardslee. L. A.. Marshall Group. North Pacific Islands. 1870. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington DC. 33. November 1, 2015. February 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210224122102/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnnx9n;view=2up;seq=8;size=125. live.
2. Gwynne. S.C.. Paradise With an Asterisk. Outside Magazine. 9 August 2013. 5 October 2012. 16 August 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130816055720/http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Paradise-With-An-Asterisk.html?page=all. dead.
3. News: For Pacific Islanders, Hopes and Troubles in Arkansas . Bret . Schulte . July 4, 2012 . . December 19, 2020 . February 20, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170220070836/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/us/for-marshall-islanders-hopes-and-troubles-in-arkansas.html . live .
4. David Vine . The Impoverishment of Displacement: Models for Documenting Human Rights Abuses and the People of Diego Garcia . Human Rights Brief . 13 . 2 . 2006 . 21–24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130208110623/http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/13/2vine.pdf . February 8, 2013 . mdy-all .
5. David Vine (January 7, 2004) Exile in the Indian Ocean: Documenting the Injuries of Involuntary Displacement. Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. Web.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved on September 11, 2013.
6. Book: David Vine. [{{google books |plainurl=y |id=rIXdsrzWof4C|page=268}} Empire's Footprint: Expulsion and the United States Military Base on Diego Garcia]. 2006. 978-0-542-85100-1. 268.
7. Book: David Vine. [{{google books |plainurl=y |id=3ankJb0skpwC|page=67}} Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (New in Paper)]. 2011. Princeton University Press. 978-0-691-14983-7. 67.
8. Web site: The World Factbook: Marshall Islands . cia.gov . Central Intelligence Agency . June 28, 2017 . July 10, 2017 . February 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210204143516/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/marshall-islands/ . live . Look under tab for "People and Society".
9. Web site: REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS 2021 CENSUS REPORT VOLUME 1: BASIC TABLES AND ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT . 2024-04-04 . 2024-04-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240404101327/https://spccfpstore1.blob.core.windows.net/digitallibrary-docs/files/60/605c69d76a40195baa447b5a558b0e02.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=RKCHLAkPrrRWvTN4g%2FbfY5tL5aSpCVCTtG4ZvZ8W1e8%3D&se=2024-10-01T09%3A53%3A30Z&sp=r&rscc=public%2C%20max-age%3D864000%2C%20max-stale%3D86400&rsct=application%2Fpdf&rscd=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22Marshall_Islands_2021_Census_Vol1_Table_report.pdf%22.
10. Web site: UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics. unstats.un.org. 2023-04-08. 2022-04-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20220414000805/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dyb_2020/. live.
11. https://web.archive.org/web/20091130031756/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127278.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Marshall Islands
12. http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=71088 First Mosque opens up in Marshall Islands
13. Web site: Renee Lewis . Bikinians evacuated 'for good of mankind' endure lengthy nuclear fallout . 28 July 2015 . 19 December 2020 . 22 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190822105132/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/28/bikini-nuclear-test-survivors-demand-compensation.html . live .
14. Web site: Australia-Oceania :: MARSHALL ISLANDS. CIA The World Factbook. 2021-01-24. 2021-02-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20210204143516/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/marshall-islands/. live.