Population by Country

Click any country to view its full guide. Population estimates reflect recent UN and national statistics.

Rank	Country	Population	% of Africa	Region
1	Nigeria	223,800,000	15.5%	West Africa
2	Ethiopia	126,500,000	8.8%	East Africa
3	Egypt	110,000,000	7.6%	North Africa
4	Democratic Republic of the Congo	102,300,000	7.1%	Central Africa
5	Tanzania	65,500,000	4.5%	East Africa
6	South Africa	60,400,000	4.2%	Southern Africa
7	Kenya	55,100,000	3.8%	East Africa
8	Sudan	47,900,000	3.3%	North Africa
9	Uganda	47,200,000	3.3%	East Africa
10	Algeria	45,400,000	3.1%	North Africa
11	Morocco	37,500,000	2.6%	North Africa
12	Angola	35,600,000	2.5%	Central Africa
13	Mozambique	33,900,000	2.3%	Southern Africa
14	Ghana	33,500,000	2.3%	West Africa
15	Madagascar	30,300,000	2.1%	East Africa
16	Ivory Coast	28,800,000	2.0%	West Africa
17	Cameroon	28,100,000	1.9%	Central Africa
18	Niger	26,200,000	1.8%	West Africa
19	Burkina Faso	23,300,000	1.6%	West Africa
20	Mali	22,600,000	1.6%	West Africa
21	Malawi	20,900,000	1.4%	Southern Africa
22	Zambia	20,000,000	1.4%	Southern Africa
23	Chad	17,700,000	1.2%	Central Africa
24	Senegal	17,700,000	1.2%	West Africa
25	Somalia	17,600,000	1.2%	East Africa
26	Zimbabwe	16,300,000	1.1%	Southern Africa
27	Guinea	14,200,000	1.0%	West Africa
28	Rwanda	13,800,000	1.0%	East Africa
29	Benin	13,300,000	0.9%	West Africa
30	Burundi	13,200,000	0.9%	East Africa
31	Tunisia	12,400,000	0.9%	North Africa
32	South Sudan	11,000,000	0.8%	East Africa
33	Togo	8,800,000	0.6%	West Africa
34	Sierra Leone	8,600,000	0.6%	West Africa
35	Libya	6,900,000	0.5%	North Africa
36	Republic of the Congo	6,100,000	0.4%	Central Africa
37	Central African Republic	5,500,000	0.4%	Central Africa
38	Liberia	5,400,000	0.4%	West Africa
39	Mauritania	4,900,000	0.3%	West Africa
40	Eritrea	3,700,000	0.3%	East Africa
41	Gambia	2,700,000	0.2%	West Africa
42	Botswana	2,630,000	0.2%	Southern Africa
43	Namibia	2,600,000	0.2%	Southern Africa
44	Gabon	2,400,000	0.2%	Central Africa
45	Lesotho	2,300,000	0.2%	Southern Africa
46	Guinea-Bissau	2,100,000	0.1%	West Africa
47	Equatorial Guinea	1,700,000	0.1%	Central Africa
48	Mauritius	1,300,000	0.1%	East Africa
49	Eswatini	1,200,000	0.1%	Southern Africa
50	Djibouti	1,140,000	0.1%	East Africa
51	Comoros	850,000	0.1%	East Africa
52	Western Sahara	600,000	0.0%	North Africa
53	Cape Verde	560,000	0.0%	West Africa
54	São Tomé and Príncipe	230,000	0.0%	Central Africa
55	Seychelles	100,000	0.0%	East Africa

The Concentration of African Population

The five most populous African countries — Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, DR Congo and South Africa (or Tanzania) — together hold approximately 43% of the continent's total population. Nigeria alone accounts for roughly 15%.

Population Growth Trajectory

Africa's population doubled between 1990 and 2020 and is on track to double again by 2050, reaching an estimated 2.5 billion people. Nigeria is projected to overtake the United States to become the world's third most populous country before 2050. Several other African countries — DR Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Egypt — will rank in the global top 20 by mid-century.

This demographic dividend — a large working-age population entering the labour force — could transform African economies if matched with education, jobs and infrastructure. It also creates urgent pressure on cities, water, energy and food systems.

Urbanisation

Africa is urbanising rapidly. In 1990 about 30% of Africans lived in cities; today the figure is over 45% and projected to exceed 60% by 2050. Lagos, Kinshasa and Cairo are already megacities of 15+ million; by 2050 they will be joined by Luanda, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and others.

How Africa's Population Is Counted

Headline figures for Africa's population are best understood as careful estimates rather than exact head counts. Most countries aim to run a full national census roughly once a decade, in line with guidance from the United Nations, but in practice the timing varies widely. Some states have conducted recent, well-funded censuses, while others have gone many years without one because of cost, conflict, or administrative capacity. Where a recent census is missing, statisticians fall back on the previous count and project it forward using births, deaths and migration.

Because national censuses arrive on different schedules, the global figures you see for "the population of Africa" are usually harmonised estimates produced by the UN Population Division as part of its World Population Prospects, or by the World Bank. These bodies take each country's most recent data, adjust for known gaps, and produce comparable mid-year estimates for the same reference date. That is why the totals on this page, drawn from recent UN and national statistics, line up into a single consistent ranking even though the underlying censuses were taken in different years.

Different sources can still disagree by a few percent for any given country. A figure may differ depending on whether it counts refugees, nomadic populations, or citizens living abroad, and on how recently the local data were collected. For that reason it is normal to see slightly different numbers quoted by the UN, the World Bank and national statistical offices. The broad picture, however, is not in doubt: Africa has passed 1.4 billion people and continues to grow.

Population by Region

Africa's population is not spread evenly across its five regions. West Africa is the most populous region, anchored by Nigeria, the continent's demographic giant, together with Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. East Africa is the next largest grouping, home to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and many smaller fast-growing states, and it contains some of the highest fertility rates on the continent.

North Africa holds large, comparatively urbanised populations concentrated along the Mediterranean coast and the Nile, with Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia accounting for most of the regional total. Central Africa is dominated by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of Africa's most populous nations, alongside Cameroon, Chad and Angola. Southern Africa is the least populous of the five regions, with South Africa as its largest country by far, followed by Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In round terms, West and East Africa together account for well over half of all Africans.

Most and Least Populous Countries

The contrast between Africa's largest and smallest countries is enormous. Nigeria leads with more than 220 million people, roughly 15% of the entire continent, making it the most populous country in Africa and one of the largest in the world. Ethiopia and Egypt each exceed 100 million, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is close behind. Together the five most populous countries hold a substantial share of all Africans, a concentration explored in our list of the most populous countries in Africa.

At the other end of the ranking sit Africa's small island and microstates. Seychelles is the least populous sovereign state, with about 100,000 people, followed by Sao Tome and Principe and Cape Verde. Several mainland nations, including Djibouti, Eswatini and Equatorial Guinea, also have populations of only one to two million. These figures, taken from the ranking table above, show that a handful of large nations dominate the continental total while dozens of smaller states each contribute a fraction of a percent.

Population Density

Population size and population density are two different things, and Africa illustrates the gap vividly. The most densely settled countries are not the largest. Rwanda and Burundi in East Africa pack many hundreds of people into every square kilometre, and the island nation of Mauritius is among the most crowded places on the continent. The fertile Nile valley in Egypt is another case where most people are squeezed into a narrow inhabited strip, giving an effective density far higher than the national average suggests.

At the opposite extreme, several large countries are very sparsely populated because so much of their territory is desert or arid scrubland. Namibia, Libya and Mauritania each have only a handful of people per square kilometre, with populations clustered around the coast, oases or the few reliable water sources. Botswana and much of the Sahara region tell the same story. As a result, a map of where Africans actually live looks very different from a map of country sizes, with dense clusters in the highlands of East Africa, the Nile corridor, the coastlines of North and West Africa, and the major river basins.

Urbanization and Megacities

Africa is urbanising faster than any other region. As noted above, roughly 30% of Africans lived in cities in 1990; today the figure is well over 45%, and the United Nations expects it to pass 60% by 2050. This shift is reshaping the continent's geography as tens of millions of people move from rural areas into towns and cities each decade in search of work, education and services.

The continent already hosts several megacities of more than ten million people. Lagos in Nigeria, Cairo in Egypt and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the largest, and each continues to expand quickly. Kinshasa is now one of the most populous French-speaking cities in the world. Behind them, a wave of cities including Luanda, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Abidjan and Khartoum are growing toward megacity status. You can explore the administrative centres of this urbanising continent in our guide to African capital cities. Managing this growth, and providing housing, transport, water and sanitation at scale, is one of the central challenges of African development.

A Young Continent: Median Age and the Youth Bulge

Africa is the youngest continent on Earth. Its median age is around 19 years, far below the world average and dramatically lower than in Europe or East Asia, where median ages are well into the 40s. In many African countries more than half of the population is under the age of 20. This "youth bulge" is the direct result of high fertility rates combined with steady improvements in child survival reported by the World Bank and the United Nations.

A young population has profound implications. It means a rising tide of young people will enter schools, then the labour market, then form families of their own over the coming decades, ensuring that Africa's population continues to grow even as fertility gradually declines. It also means that decisions made now about education, health care and job creation will shape outcomes for generations. The scale of the youth cohort is both Africa's greatest opportunity and its most pressing policy challenge.

Population Growth and the Demographic Dividend

Africa's population is growing at roughly 2.5% a year, the fastest of any continent. Growth rates are highest in West and Central Africa, where fertility remains elevated, and lower in much of North and Southern Africa, where birth rates have already fallen closer to global norms. Across the continent as a whole, populations are still rising quickly because the large number of young people entering their childbearing years offsets gradually declining family sizes, a momentum effect that the UN expects to persist for decades.

Economists describe the potential upside of this trend as a demographic dividend. As fertility falls, the share of the population that is of working age rises relative to dependents, which can boost economic growth if those workers find productive jobs. Several Asian economies captured exactly this dividend in recent generations. Whether Africa can do the same depends on investment in education, health, infrastructure and the creation of enough jobs to absorb a swelling labour force. The same growth also intensifies demand for food, water, energy and housing, as discussed across our coverage of African economies, including the page on Africa's GDP by country.

Projections to 2050

Looking ahead, the United Nations projects that Africa's population could reach roughly 2.5 billion people by 2050, up from about 1.4 billion today. That would mean nearly one in four people on the planet lives in Africa by mid-century, and the continent's share of the global population is expected to keep climbing into the second half of the century even as growth slows elsewhere in the world.

The biggest absolute increases are forecast for the countries that are already large. The UN expects Nigeria to overtake the United States to become one of the world's most populous nations before 2050, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Egypt all ranking among the global top 20 by mid-century. These are projections rather than certainties, and they depend on how quickly fertility falls, but the direction of travel is clear and widely accepted: Africa will account for a growing majority of the world's population growth in the decades ahead, making the continent central to the future of global demography.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the population of Africa?

Africa is home to roughly 1.4 billion people, about 18% of the world's population, across 54 sovereign countries. The United Nations reports that it is the fastest-growing continent, adding tens of millions of people each year, and it has already passed the 1.4 billion mark.

Which African country has the most people?

Nigeria is by far the most populous African country, with more than 220 million people, or roughly 15% of the continent's total. Ethiopia and Egypt come next, each with over 100 million inhabitants, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Which is the least populous African country?

Among sovereign states, Seychelles is the least populous, with about 100,000 residents. Other very small populations include Sao Tome and Principe and Cape Verde, all of them small island nations.

Which African country has the fastest-growing population?

Several countries in West and Central Africa, including Niger, rank among the fastest-growing populations in the world. The UN Population Division attributes this to high fertility combined with falling child mortality, which produces a very young population.

How big will Africa's population be in 2050?

According to the United Nations, Africa's population could reach roughly 2.5 billion by 2050, meaning about one in four people on Earth would live in Africa. Africa's share of the world's population is projected to keep rising well beyond mid-century.

Last updated: June 2026. Population figures based on the latest United Nations World Population Prospects and World Bank estimates; mid-year estimates are revised periodically.

Related Pages

• Africa GDP by country
• Top 15 most populous African countries
• All African country lists
• African regions