Zimbabwe has over seven million children and 7.7 per cent of them are orphans, a report by the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZIMSTAT) has revealed.
ZIMSTAT on Tuesday, 20 September released the 2022 Population and Housing Census (PHC) Preliminary Report on Mortality and Orphanhood.
Presenting the report in Harare yesterday, ZIMSTAT director general, Taguma Mahonde said:
A total of 7 120 524 children were aged 0 – 17 years and of these children, 7.7 per cent (549 485) were orphans.
The prevalence of orphanhood ranged from 5.8 per cent in Harare province to 9.7 per cent in Matabeleland South province.
A total of 396,010 orphans against a population of 4,699,466 aged 0-17 years were in the rural areas and 153,475 orphans against a population of 2,421,058 aged 0-17 years were in the urban areas.
Hence orphanhood prevalence was higher within rural areas (8.4 per cent) than in urban areas (6.3 per cent).
Of the 396 010 orphans in rural areas, 274 183 (69,2 per cent) were paternal orphans, 71 626 (18,1 per cent) were maternal orphans and 65 640 (12,7 per cent) were double orphans.
In urban areas, out of the 153 475 orphans, 107 885 (70,3 per cent) were paternal orphans, 30 151 (19,6 per cent) were maternal orphans and 15 439 (10,1 per cent) were double orphans.
ZIMSTAT also revealed that life expectancy has increased to 64.7 years from 60.7 years in the last decade with women living longer than men. | Chronicle