Distribution of age and gender of slaves on French ships by origin 1715-92

Based on the records of almost 177,000 slaves transported from Africa on French ships between 1715 and 1792, a clear pattern is observed in the distribution of adult males, adult females and children. In total, over 47 percent of all slaves taken on French ships in these years were adult males, with the remaining 53 percent split fairly evenly between women and children. The gender differences among adults varied by region, with the share of male slaves ranging from 40 to 51 percent, while the share of female slaves was between 21 and 30 percent.

Throughout the transatlantic slave trade, the definition of a child slave varied greatly between various national carriers and regions, with slave traders using age boundaries between 7 and 18 years, while other slave traders used height to determine whether a child was a slave or not. Because of this, the proportion of child slaves in these figures ranged more than adult males or females, and was between 21 and 35 percent. The source states that the gender ratio among children was likely similar to the adult gender ratio, however they also acknowledge variations by region, and the fact that the number of children, particularly infants, was undercounted.