Demographics of Brunei

The demographic features of Brunei include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Like neighbouring countries, Brunei is a Malay-majority country. Many cultural and linguistic differences make Brunei Malays distinct from the larger Malay populations in nearby Malaysia and Indonesia, even though they are ethnically related and share the Muslim religion.

Brunei population pyramid in 2020

Petroleum wealth allows the Brunei Government to provide the population with one of Asia's finest health care systems. The Brunei Medical and Health Department introduced the region's first government "flying doctor service" in early 1965. Malaria has been eradicated, and cholera is virtually nonexistent.

Education starts with preschool, followed by 6 years of primary education and up to 6 years of secondary education. Nine years of education are mandatory. The official language is Malay, but English is widely understood and used in business. Islam is the official religion, but religious freedom is guaranteed under the constitution.

Population

Brunei has a population of around 456,000 people, according to recent estimates. This number has been growing slowly over the years.

The country's population is quite young on average, with people typically around 30 years old. Many people live in cities, with about three out of four people residing in urban areas.

Year	Total population (thousands)	Population in age bracket
Year	Total population (thousands)	aged 0–14	aged 15–64	aged 65+
1950	48	36.4%	58.7%	4.9%
1955	63	39.5%	56.1%	4.4%
1960	80	42.1%	53.8%	4.1%
1965	100	44.7%	51.4%	3.9%
1970	125	41.1%	55.0%	3.8%
1975	157	39.8%	56.3%	3.8%
1980	189	38.7%	58.4%	3.0%
1985	219	38.7%	58.3%	3.0%
1990	252	35.4%	61.8%	2.8%
1995	290	33.3%	63.7%	3.0%
2000	327	30.3%	66.7%	2.9%
2005	363	28.2%	68.6%	3.2%
2010	399	26.2%	70.2%	3.6%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	203 149	190 223	393 372	100
0-4	15 678	14 653	30 331	7.71
5-9	17 269	16 365	33 634	8.55
10-14	18 448	17 015	35 463	9.02
15-19	17 948	17 013	34 961	8.89
20-24	19 950	18 257	38 207	9.71
25-29	20 749	18 445	39 194	9.96
30-34	19 322	17 619	36 941	9.39
35-39	17 329	16 423	33 752	8.58
40-44	15 262	14 819	30 081	7.65
45-49	12 836	11 754	24 590	6.25
50-54	10 318	9 458	19 776	5.03
55-59	7 170	6 872	14 042	3.57
60-64	4 160	4 354	8 514	2.16
65-69	2 583	2 501	5 084	1.29
70-74	1 833	2 079	3 912	0.99
75-79	1 195	1 398	2 593	0.66
80-84	701	703	1 404	0.36
85+	398	495	893	0.23
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	51 395	48 033	99 428	25.28
15-64	145 044	135 014	280 058	71.19
65+	6 710	7 176	13 886	3.53

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	214 104	203 152	417 256	100
0–4	14 864	13 563	28 427	6.81
5–9	15 673	14 753	30 426	7.29
10–14	17 663	16 643	34 306	8.22
15–19	18 949	17 468	36 417	8.73
20–24	20 544	18 483	39 027	9.35
25–29	21 416	18 396	39 812	9.54
30–34	19 313	17 582	36 895	8.84
35–39	17 815	16 677	34 492	8.27
40–44	15 743	15 421	31 164	7.47
45–49	13 682	14 019	27 701	6.64
50–54	11 651	11 509	23 160	5.55
55–59	9 462	9 777	19 239	4.61
60–64	7 068	7 523	14 591	3.50
65-69	4 257	4 701	8 958	2.15
70-74	2 537	2 558	5 095	1.22
75-79	1 737	2 043	3 780	0.91
80-84	974	1 232	2 206	0.53
85-89	498	517	1 015	0.24
90-94	184	212	396	0.09
95-99	64	60	124	0.03
100+	10	15	25	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	48 200	44 959	93 159	22.33
15–64	155 643	146 855	302 498	72.50
65+	10 261	11 338	21 599	5.18

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	226 102	203 897	429 999	100
0–4	14 211	12 506	26 717	6.21
5–9	16 038	14 844	30 882	7.18
10–14	15 486	14 539	30 025	6.98
15–19	17 098	16 207	33 305	7.75
20–24	20 383	17 299	37 682	8.76
25–29	22 888	18 476	41 364	9.62
30–34	22 161	17 770	39 931	9.29
35–39	20 330	16 699	37 029	8.61
40–44	18 121	15 710	33 831	7.87
45–49	15 426	14 570	29 996	6.98
50–54	12 967	12 651	25 618	5.96
55–59	10 129	9 930	20 059	4.66
60–64	7 917	8 305	16 222	3.77
65-69	5 760	6 296	12 056	2.80
70-74	3 441	3 855	7 296	1.70
75-79	1 865	1 935	3 800	0.88
80-84	1 078	1 392	2 470	0.57
85-89	509	661	1 170	0.27
90-94	170	185	355	0.08
95-99	43	48	91	0.02
100+	81	19	100	0.02
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	45 735	41 889	87 624	20.38
15–64	167 420	147 617	315 037	73.26
65+	12 947	14 391	27 338	6.36

Vital statistics

The United Nations provides important information about births, deaths, and how long people live in Brunei.

Data comes from the United Nations World Population Prospects.

We also have data from the United Nations Statistics Division about registered births and deaths.

For life expectancy at birth, the total population lives about 75.52 years. Males live about 73.32 years, and females live about 77.83 years (estimated in 2009).

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR¹	CDR¹	NC¹	TFR¹	IMR¹
1950-1955	3 000	1 000	2 000	49.6	13.5	37.3	7.00	90.2
1955-1960	3 000	1 000	2 000	43.5	10.6	37.1	6.38	68.8
1960-1965	4 000	1 000	3 000	41.9	8.7	34.0	6.56	52.1
1965-1970	4 000	1 000	3 000	35.1	7.1	29.6	5.59	39.1
1970-1975	5 000	1 000	4 000	37.4	6.3	29.2	5.87	29.3
1975-1980	6 000	1 000	5 000	34.4	5.2	25.5	4.71	21.9
1980-1985	6 000	1 000	5 000	29.9	4.4	26.3	3.92	16.4
1985-1990	7 000	1 000	6 000	29.8	3.9	23.6	3.72	12.2
1990-1995	8 000	1 000	7 000	28.1	3.5	25.0	3.28	9.1
1995-2000	7 000	1 000	6 000	23.9	3.1	22.2	2.60	6.8
2000-2005	8 000	1 000	7 000	21.9	3.0	20.8	2.28	5.1
2005-2010	8 000	1 000	6 000	20.1	3.1	16.5	2.11	4.8
¹ CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Ethnic groups

Brunei is home to many different groups of people. In 1991, most people, about 67%, were Brunei Malays, also known as Kedayan. Chinese people made up about 16% of the population, and indigenous groups, like the Iban, Murut, Dusun, and Melanau, were about 6%. The remaining 12% were from other backgrounds, including Indians.

More recent data from 2016 shows that Malays still make up the largest group at around 65.7%. The Chinese community is smaller now, at about 10.3%, and the rest of the population belongs to various other groups.

**Population of Brunei according to ethnic group 1947-2021**
Ethnic group	census 1947		census 1960		census 1971		census 1981		census 1991		census 2001		census 2011		census 2021
Ethnic group	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Malay	16,742	41.2	45,135	53.8	89,267	65.5	125,717	65.2	174,319	66.9	222,101	66.7	258,446	65.7	297,016	67.4
Kedayan¹	16,742	41.2	4,291	5.1	89,267	65.5	125,717	65.2	174,319	66.9	222,101	66.7	258,446	65.7	297,016	67.4
Chinese	8,300	20.4	21,795	26.0	31,925	23.4	39,461	20.5	40,621	15.6	37,056	11.1	40,534	10.3	42,132	9.6
Dusun	²		4,873	5.8	8,552	6.3	15,175	7.9	15,665	6.0	73,687	22.1	13,280	3.4	101,567	23.0
Iban	1,330	3.3	3,900	4.6
Melanau	2,517	6.2	318	0.4
Indian	11,768	28.9	3,565	4.3	2,162	1.6	5,919	3.1	29,877	11.5			81,112	20.6
Other	11,768	28.9	3,565	4.3	4,350	3.2	6,560	3.4	29,877	11.5			81,112	20.6
Total	40,657		83,877		136,256		192,832		260,482		332,844		393,372		440,715
¹ The Kedayan were only mentioned as a separate ethnic group in the 1960 census; they are probably included in the Malay in the other censuses. ² included in 'Others'

Languages

Main article: Languages of Brunei

Brunei has three main languages. The official language is Malay. People also speak English and Chinese.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Brunei

Brunei has many different groups of people who follow different beliefs. Most people, about 82%, follow Islam. A smaller group, around 7%, are Christians. Another group, about 6%, are Buddhists. The rest, close to 5%, follow other beliefs or do not follow any particular belief.

HIV/AIDS

Brunei has very few cases of illnesses related to health. In estimates from 2003, fewer than 200 people were affected, and the number of related health issues was also very small. This shows that such health concerns are rare in the country.

Nationality

People from Brunei are called Bruneian(s), and something relating to Brunei can be described as Bruneian.

Literacy

In Brunei, most people aged 15 and older can read and write. About 96% of the whole population has these skills. A little more than half of the men, around 97.5%, can read and write, while about 94.5% of women have these abilities. These numbers are from estimates made in 2015.

Education expenditures

Brunei spends about 4.4% of its total money on education, as measured in the year 2016.