Zambia: Background

Demographics

Currently, Zambia has a predominantly young and steadily growing population, which, on the surface at least, has not changed since independence. Beneath the surface, however, there have been significant changes in the demographic situation associated with recent developments in urban population growth and the unabated spread of HIV/AIDS. 

Zambia's population was about 9.8 million inhabitants in 2000 and was projected at 12.1 million for 2007 (CSO, 2006d). According to the census report, 2000 was the first year in which the male population slightly outnumbered the female population in Zambia (CSO, 2003a). However, official estimates of life expectancy in Zambia differ to estimates from other sources, such as those produced by the UN. Thus one must be aware of these differences when considering the likely demographic change in Zambia over time.

Zambia's population is young and growing fast. During the 1990s, it grew on average by 2.4 per cent per year, whereas the world population increased by 1.5 per cent and other developing countries by 1.7 per cent.* Furthermore, the urban population is facing an ageing process shown by the decrease in the child dependency ratio from 104.3 in 1980 to 74.0 in 2005 (see Table 1-3) and slight increase in old-age dependency ratios. 

Labour Market

In recent years, Zambia has witnessed steady economic expansion (with growth rates of over 5 per cent in the last four years) and a fall in inflation rates towards acceptable levels (below 10 per cent in 2006). Today, eighty-eight per cent of all of the employed in Zambia worked totally in the informal economy and only 3 per cent of those employed worked in a fully formal environment. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) shows that 49 per cent of paid employees interviewed did not have or did not know if they had a contract of employment with their employer; and the same proportion of all paid employees said that either their employers did not pay a social security contribution for them or, if they did, they were not aware of it. 

 

Social security schemes and programs by branch