Every year on July 11, the world observes World Population Day, a time to reflect on population trends, challenges, and opportunities. In 2025, the global theme “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world” is especially relevant to Rwanda, where a young population continues to shape the country’s development landscape. This moment serves as a key opportunity to highlight how timely, accurate, and disaggregated population data plays a central role in national planning and sustainable development. According to the 2022 Rwanda Population and Housing Census (RPHC5) by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), the total resident population was estimated at 13.2 million. Data shows that Rwanda remains a youthful where population aged 30 years and below was 65,3 %The population Projections for 2025 indicate a continuation of this trend, with youth population is estimated at 64,6% from total population of 1,410,8214 This youth-dominated population structure represents not only a demographic reality but also a unique opportunity. It underscores the urgency of empowering young people with the tools and support needed to make informed decisions about their futures including family formation, education, and economic participation. If investments are made in educating, training, and creating jobs for this large youth population, Rwanda stands to benefit from a demographic dividend that accelerates inclusive and sustainable growth. NISR's role as a statistical institution is to ensure that policymakers and citizens alike have easy access to a variety of information for planning and better decision making. The data we produce enables the government and development partners to understand demographic dynamics such as population size, age structure, geographic distribution, and socio-economic characteristics ensuring that national policies and programs are tailored to the specific needs of various groups, including youth, women, and rural communities. On this World Population Day, NISR calls on all stakeholders to prioritize data-driven approaches in addressing population challenges and unlocking the full potential of Rwanda’s youthful population for a fairer and hopeful future. NISR website has a variety of information on all sectors including population projections for the period 2023 to 2050. These projections are both at national and district level, with details of gender and age groups. The author is the Director General of NISR.
