Centre: population, poverty, health, schools, businesses and prices
Centre is a region of Cameroon, number 2 of 10 by population. The National Institute of Statistics projected the population of the Centre region at 5,487,641 for 2025 (18.6% of Cameroon's 29.44 million), including 3,762,929 in the city of Yaoundé; 2nd largest of the 10 regions. This is a projection from the 2005 census, the latest census with published results.
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in Centre: The 2023 General Census of Enterprises counted 117,405 businesses and establishments in the Centre region, 26.8% of Cameroon's 438,893, up from 56,654 in 2016 (+107.2%; Cameroon: +109.5%). 86,410 of them are in Yaoundé.
- Health in Centre: Out of every 1,000 children born in the ten years before the 2018 survey, 53 in Yaoundé and 85 in the rest of the Centre region died before age five (Cameroon, last five years: 80).
- Education in Centre: Primary schools in the Centre region had 826,604 pupils and 27,925 teachers in 2021/22, 30 pupils per teacher, 4th lowest of the 10 regions (Cameroon: 43).
How fast is the population of the Centre region growing?
The projections have Centre's population growing from 4,362,138 in 2016 to 5,487,641 in 2025, about 2.6% a year (Cameroon: 2.5%).
Source: Institut National de la Statistique (INS) and Ministry of Public Health (MINSANTE) · saved copyHow many children do women in the Centre region have?
Women in Yaoundé had 3.5 children each on average in the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey, and women in the rest of the Centre region 5.2 (Cameroon: 4.8).
Source: Institut National de la Statistique (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyWhat is the poverty rate in the Centre region?
ECAM5, the national household survey, found that 10.8% of people in Yaoundé and 19.1% in the rest of the Centre region lived below the national poverty line (813 CFA francs a day per person) in 2022 (Cameroon: 37.7%). The survey does not publish a figure for the whole region.
Source: Institut National de la Statistique · saved copyHow many poor households are there in the Centre region?
1.6% of people in the Centre region lived in households in the poorest fifth nationally by assets and housing in 2018 (combining Yaoundé, 0.0%, and the rest of the Centre region, 3.2%, by population), 4th lowest of the 10 regions (by design, 20% nationally).
Source: Institut National de la Statistique (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyDo people in the Centre region have enough to eat?
54.6% of women aged 15 to 49 in the Centre region faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2018 (combining Yaoundé, 52.2%, and the rest of the Centre region, 57.3%, by population), and 18.9% severe food insecurity; 2nd highest of the 10 regions for moderate or severe (Cameroon: 47.2% and 16.2%).
Source: Institut National de la Statistique (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyHow common is domestic violence in the Centre region?
41.4% of married or formerly married women in the Centre region had suffered emotional, physical or sexual violence from a husband or partner in the past 12 months (combining Yaoundé, 30.8%, and the rest of the Centre region, 50.9%, by population), the highest of the 10 regions (Cameroon: 31.5%).
Source: Institut National de la Statistique (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyHow regions are governed in Cameroon
Regions (10). Regional council (90 councillors, five-year term) chosen indirectly; council elects a regional president. A governor appointed by the president represents the state.. Regional development, some education, health and sport functions; first regional councils took office after the December 2020 regional elections.
Every tier of government in Cameroon
Other regions of Cameroon
- Far North 5,499,114
- Littoral 4,498,870
- North 3,485,915
- North-West 2,428,173
- West 2,232,844
- South-West 2,098,488
- Adamawa 1,541,773
- East 1,283,771
- South 885,738
Up a level: Cameroon · government and power in Cameroon
Sources
- Institut National de la Statistique: Note sur les prix au Cameroun en décembre 2025 (consumer price index by regional capital; inflation in 2025), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 4c55e0a546c1…)
- Institut National de la Statistique: Note sur les prix au Cameroun en juillet 2026 (consumer price index by regional capital), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 9dc29d67ea92…)
- Institut National de la Statistique (with ICF, The DHS Program): Enquête Démographique et de Santé du Cameroun 2018 (EDSC-V), final report: regional tables 2.1.2, 2.3.2, 2.6, 2.13, 3.3.1, 3.13, 5.2, 8.2-8.3, 9.5, 10.3, 11.1, 12.15, 14.4, 17.10.1, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b2fd029d9c33…)
- Institut National de la Statistique: Fifth Cameroon Household Survey (ECAM5): Situation of household living conditions in 2021-2022, policy brief (Figure 4: income poverty rate by survey region, 2022), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d0d09e4798f8…)
- Institut National de la Statistique with the education ministries (SIGE school census): Annuaire statistique sectoriel 2021-2022 de l'éducation et de la formation (key figures by region: primary VI.1, general secondary IX.1), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fe339187a8b4…)
- Institut National de la Statistique (INS) and Ministry of Public Health (MINSANTE): Projections démographiques et estimations des cibles prioritaires des différents programmes et interventions de santé, 2016-2025 (Tableaux 12-24: population by region and year), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a6b4012f1b22…)
- Institut National de la Statistique: 3rd General Census of Enterprises (RGE3), main report: businesses by region 2009-2023, turnover by region 2022, permanent jobs by region 2022, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 62895f181cfb…)
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