List of African countries by population

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2022)
Date05 Feb 2024

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, followed by Ethiopia, Egypt and Democratic Republic of the Congo. These four countries have a total number of humans above 100 mn. The top ten countries together hold a 61% share of the Africa population. As of 2024, 32 countries have a population above 10 million. The least populous country in Africa is Seychelles. Saint Helena is the least populous region in Africa. Eight countries/dependent territories in Africa have a population below one million.

Two African country are in the list of the top ten most populous countries globally as it hosts Nigeria and Ethiopia, the world's 6th and 10th most populous country, resp. Fifteen countries are within the top 50 world population ranking.

Out of 58 countries/territories, only Saint Helena would see a population decrease in 2024. Nigeria would be the top contributor to the total population increment in 2023. Nigeria accounts for 15.5 percent of the total population increase in Africa. Nigeria's population would increase by 5.4 million, followed by the DR Congo (3.4 mn) and Ethiopia (3.2 mn). Ten countries will add at least one mn humans in 2024.

Niger would have the highest population growth rate of 3.75 % in 2024. Six countries in Africa have a growth rate above 3%. 34 countries have a growth rate above 2%. Nine countries are on the list of the world's top 10 fastest-growing nations. Only seven countries have a growth rate between 0-1%. Only Saint Helena has negative growth rate.

DR Congo, which is currently at 4th position, will surpass Egypt and Ethiopia by 2100 to become the 2nd most populous country in Africa.

In 1950, Western Sahara was the least populous country in Africa. Now Seychelles will remain the least populous country until 2100.

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Population (UN)

Code Country/Region Population Share (%) Rank Growth (2024) Growth Rank
20232024 AfricaWorldAfricaWorldNet%AfricaWorld
BDIBurundi13,238,55913,591,6570.9090.1673078355,6452.621518
COMComoros852,075867,6050.05800.01075216415,5131.794153
DJIDjibouti1,136,4551,152,3290.07710.01425016115,9401.384773
ERIEritrea3,748,9013,817,6510.2550.04704013170,7391.853950
ETHEthiopia126,527,060129,719,7198.681.602103,205,7152.472225
KENKenya55,100,58656,203,0303.760.6927261,113,9041.983544
MDGMadagascar30,325,73231,056,6102.080.3831550736,9822.372428
MWIMalawi20,931,75121,475,9621.440.2652162553,6992.581619
MUSMauritius1,300,5571,301,9780.08710.0160481581,3360.1057187
MYTMayotte335,995345,9960.02310.004265518210,0042.8989
MOZMozambique33,897,35434,858,4022.330.4291345968,6262.781011
REURéunion981,796989,3500.06620.0122511627,4590.7555119
RWARwanda14,094,68314,414,9100.9640.1782876321,1132.232935
SYCSeychelles107,660108,2630.007240.00133571985860.5456145
SOMSomalia18,143,37818,706,9221.250.2302468570,3893.0556
SSDSouth Sudan11,088,79611,277,0920.7540.1393285192,5901.714255
UGAUganda48,582,33449,924,2523.340.6158301,349,1142.701113
TZAUnited Republic of Tanzania67,438,10669,419,0734.640.8555211,997,5182.88910
ZMBZambia20,569,73721,134,6951.410.2602263569,6642.701214
ZWEZimbabwe16,665,40917,020,3211.140.2102674355,2732.093342
AGOAngola36,684,20237,804,6342.530.46612411,129,2622.9978
CMRCameroon28,647,29329,394,4331.970.3621753753,4172.561720
CAFCentral African Republic5,742,3155,915,6270.3960.072937116177,9773.0167
TCDChad18,278,56818,847,1481.260.2322367574,7613.0545
COGCongo6,106,8696,244,5470.4180.076936113138,2112.213037
CODDemocratic Republic of the Congo102,262,808105,625,1147.071.304153,412,1273.2323
GNQEquatorial Guinea1,714,6711,754,9930.1170.02164715240,5182.312731
GABGabon2,436,5662,484,5570.1660.03064414648,4051.953645
STPSao Tome and Principe231,856236,3810.01580.00291561884,5491.923747
DZAAlgeria45,606,48046,278,7513.100.5701034657,2971.424668
EGYEgypt112,716,598114,484,2527.661.413141,796,9101.574559
LBYLibya6,888,3886,964,1970.4660.08583510774,8101.075088
MARMorocco37,840,04438,211,4592.560.4711139365,6860.965399
SDNSudan48,109,00649,358,2283.300.6089311,254,2502.541821
TUNTunisia12,458,22312,564,6890.8400.1553180103,5600.8254110
ESHWestern Sahara587,259598,3850.04000.007375417311,0561.854051
BWABotswana2,675,3522,719,6940.1820.03354214343,9961.624458
SWZEswatini1,210,8221,222,0750.08170.01514916012,6381.035190
LSOLesotho2,330,3182,356,0830.1580.02904514725,5721.084987
NAMNamibia2,604,1722,645,8050.1770.03264314544,6071.694356
ZAFSouth Africa60,414,49561,020,2214.080.752624664,4061.094886
BENBenin13,712,82814,080,0720.9420.1732977371,5622.641416
BFABurkina Faso23,251,48523,840,2471.590.2942060593,5862.492023
CPVCabo Verde598,682604,4610.04040.00745531725,7860.965298
CIVCôte d'Ivoire28,873,03429,603,3021.980.3651651735,6572.482124
GMBGambia2,773,1682,841,8030.1900.03504113869,1232.432326
GHAGhana34,121,98534,777,5222.330.4281446661,5751.903848
GINGuinea14,190,61214,528,7700.9720.1792775342,2672.362529
GNBGuinea-Bissau2,150,8422,197,1490.1470.02714614847,0142.143241
LBRLiberia5,418,3775,536,9490.3700.068238119119,4092.163139
MLIMali23,293,69824,015,7891.610.2961958733,8133.0634
MRTMauritania4,862,9894,993,9220.3340.061539126133,0972.671315
NERNiger27,202,84328,238,9721.890.34818541,058,7653.7512
NGANigeria223,804,632229,152,21715.32.82165,393,8892.352630
SHNSaint Helena5,3145,2530.000350.0000658232-55-1.0558230
SENSenegal17,763,16318,221,5671.220.2242571462,9432.541922
SLESierra Leone8,791,0928,977,9720.6010.11134100187,3492.093443
TGOTogo9,053,7999,260,8640.6190.1143399207,8592.252834
Africa 1,460,481,772 1,494,993,924 18.41 34,869,463 2.33

Estimated and Projected population (UN)

Code Country/Region 1950 2000 2050 2100
PopulationRankPopulationRankPopulation RankPopulationRank
BDIBurundi2,254,113306,307,6593124,208,6712839,388,46727
COMComoros161,81452536,758521,246,207501,570,16650
DJIDjibouti62,33453742,033501,502,575491,676,90949
ERIEritrea822,576392,392,880405,964,021408,575,29439
ETHEthiopia17,709,951367,031,8673214,812,3093323,741,6003
KENKenya5,774,0501130,851,606785,211,7397112,525,07910
MDGMadagascar3,953,8961816,216,4311651,592,9651583,316,55715
MWIMalawi2,949,7392111,229,3872237,159,3002258,521,71924
MUSMauritius525,443431,215,930471,226,23551846,90054
MYTMayotte20,54456159,21555664,141551,356,37951
MOZMozambique5,920,2151017,768,5051363,044,49712106,196,94611
REURéunion249,29949785,424491,127,252521,113,97153
RWARwanda2,154,218328,109,9892923,030,0463033,811,63030
SYCSeychelles38,1065580,06057116,64457103,65457
SOMSomalia2,213,052318,721,4652636,462,8302366,335,73319
SSDSouth Sudan2,492,077276,114,4403217,460,8463123,720,02732
UGAUganda5,750,6371224,020,6971187,622,0816132,127,0449
TZAUnited Republic of Tanzania7,632,399834,463,7046129,931,5205244,819,8864
ZMBZambia2,318,448289,891,1362437,460,4352163,604,54121
ZWEZimbabwe2,791,3262211,834,6761926,438,5892635,633,41528
AGOAngola4,478,1841516,394,0621572,328,06810132,901,2808
CMRCameroon4,315,8161615,091,5941751,279,5601787,093,21913
CAFCentral African Republic1,436,591343,759,1703611,533,4233518,793,63133
TCDChad2,512,688258,259,1372836,452,0352465,152,51220
COGCongo835,132383,134,0303710,378,9123617,181,63034
CODDemocratic Republic of the Congo12,295,745548,616,3174217,494,0032432,378,4002
GNQEquatorial Guinea226,38150684,977512,790,533473,855,77746
GABGabon472,905451,272,935453,757,053435,268,08842
STPSao Tome and Principe60,97554143,71456366,66356531,75856
DZAAlgeria9,019,866630,774,621860,001,1131367,792,98118
EGYEgypt21,150,058271,371,3712160,339,8894205,225,0765
LBYLibya1,130,677365,154,790338,539,976398,473,05040
MARMorocco8,946,209728,554,415945,044,9901943,933,29626
SDNSudan6,191,323926,298,7731084,494,2698141,996,1607
TUNTunisia3,606,288199,893,3162314,315,7793313,530,73137
ESHWestern Sahara12,98257270,37554851,067531,121,87452
BWABotswana413,481461,726,985433,679,340444,177,61445
SWZEswatini271,642481,030,496481,655,121481,992,79048
LSOLesotho579,470411,998,630412,898,369462,967,26847
NAMNamibia514,774441,819,141423,779,918425,018,49743
ZAFSouth Africa13,043,844446,813,266573,529,753974,559,59016
BENBenin2,264,452296,998,0233025,264,0352746,617,38425
BFABurkina Faso4,213,7571711,882,8881840,541,5482061,539,30023
CPVCabo Verde184,99951458,25153727,45754667,36555
CIVCôte d'Ivoire2,736,9092316,799,6701451,358,2431689,366,99512
GMBGambia306,781471,437,539444,673,743416,667,39641
GHAGhana5,077,5961319,665,5021252,231,7851472,826,46817
GINGuinea2,983,557208,336,9672723,711,7002934,178,28329
GNBGuinea-Bissau543,413421,230,849463,445,289454,765,96244
LBRLiberia915,894372,895,224388,890,7003813,226,14038
MLIMali4,694,9161411,239,1012147,439,8021887,079,52314
MRTMauritania658,555402,695,003398,914,6733715,450,98536
NERNiger2,569,1912411,622,6652067,043,29611167,008,2986
NGANigeria37,189,3691122,851,9841377,459,8831546,091,6621
SHNSaint Helena5,224586,024583,874582,80358
SENSenegal2,496,065269,704,2872532,562,8692562,054,83622
SLESierra Leone2,000,790334,584,0673513,595,0233416,965,72835
TGOTogo1,398,525355,008,0353415,478,8833226,980,35031
Africa 227,549,258 818,952,057 2,485,135,539 3,924,420,614