Cabo Verde’s population growth fell to 0.47% y/y in 2025.

Neither way is good in itself. Faster growth adds workers and customers but strains housing, schools and clinics. Slower growth eases that strain but leaves fewer young people to support an ageing population. The latest figure is 0.47% y/y for January 2025, down 0.02 percentage points from 0.49% y/y a year earlier. Since 2016 the range has run from 0.03% y/y in January 2016 to 0.6% y/y in January 2022, so the current rate sits in the upper part of that span and below its 2022 peak.

Why it matters. At 0.47% y/y, Cabo Verde adds people gradually, so demand for homes, school places and health services rises steadily each year. Employers can expect a labour force that expands slowly. Planners at the state level can budget for modest annual increases in services, and the 2022 peak of 0.6% y/y shows how much faster that need has grown in recent years.