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Most populous countries in Africa, 1960 to 2025

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country at about 237.5 million people in 2025, up from 45.1 million in 1960. Ethiopia is next at 135.5 million.

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What the data shows

  • In 2025, Nigeria ranks #1 with 237.5M, ahead of Ethiopia (135.5M) and Egypt (118.4M).
  • Nigeria holds #1 for the whole period, 1960 to 2025.
  • Biggest climber: Tanzania, from #8 in 1960 to #5 in 2025.
  • Nigeria grew 5.3× between 1960 and 2025.

About this chart

Nigeria was already the most populous country in Africa in 1960 and still is, growing from about 45.1 million people in 1960 to 237.5 million in 2025. Ethiopia is a distant second at 135.5 million, and it has grown more than sixfold from 21.4 million in 1960. Egypt, which had 26.9 million people in 1960 and was then second, is third at 118.4 million.

DR Congo has grown from 15.3 million people in 1960, fifth in Africa then, to 112.8 million in 2025, more than seven times as many. Tanzania (70.5 million), South Africa (64.7 million), Kenya (57.5 million), Sudan (51.7 million), Uganda (51.4 million) and Algeria (47.4 million) complete the top ten. The figures are World Bank population estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status.

The data

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.POP.TOTL), population, millions; Africa. Retrieved November 4, 2026.

Most populous countries in Africa, Population, millions, 1960–2025
Date🇳🇬 Nigeria🇪🇹 Ethiopia🇪🇬 Egypt🇨🇩 DR Congo🇹🇿 Tanzania🇿🇦 South Africa🇰🇪 Kenya🇸🇩 Sudan🇺🇬 Uganda🇩🇿 Algeria🇲🇦 Morocco
196045.1M21.4M26.9M15.3M9.9M16.4M7.7M8.4M7.6M11.4M11.6M
196146.0M21.9M27.6M15.7M10.2M16.9M8.0M8.6M7.9M11.6M11.9M
196247.0M22.5M28.3M16.1M10.5M17.4M8.3M8.9M8.1M11.8M12.3M
196348.0M23.1M29.1M16.5M10.8M18.0M8.6M9.2M8.3M12.0M12.6M
196449.0M23.7M29.9M17.0M11.1M18.5M9.0M9.5M8.6M12.2M12.9M
196550.1M24.3M30.6M17.4M11.5M19.1M9.3M9.9M8.8M12.4M13.2M
196651.2M25.0M31.4M17.9M11.8M19.7M9.7M10.2M9.1M12.6M13.6M
196752.3M25.6M32.2M18.5M12.2M20.3M10.1M10.6M9.4M12.9M14.0M
196853.4M26.3M33.0M19.0M12.6M21.0M10.5M10.9M9.7M13.2M14.3M
196954.6M27.1M33.8M19.6M13.0M21.6M10.9M11.3M10.0M13.5M14.7M
197055.9M27.8M34.6M20.1M13.5M22.3M11.4M11.7M10.3M13.8M15.1M
197157.2M28.6M35.4M20.7M14.0M22.9M11.8M12.1M10.6M14.1M15.5M
197258.6M29.4M36.3M21.3M14.5M23.6M12.2M12.5M10.9M14.4M15.9M
197360.1M30.2M37.1M21.8M15.0M24.3M12.6M13.0M11.1M14.8M16.3M
197461.7M31.0M38.0M22.4M15.6M25.0M13.1M13.6M11.4M15.1M16.7M
197563.4M31.7M38.9M23.0M16.1M25.7M13.5M14.1M11.7M15.7M17.2M
197665.3M32.5M39.8M23.6M16.7M26.4M14.0M14.6M12.0M16.4M17.6M
197767.2M33.2M40.7M24.2M17.4M27.1M14.4M15.1M12.4M17.0M18.0M
197869.3M33.7M41.8M25.0M18.0M27.9M14.9M15.7M12.7M17.5M18.5M
197971.5M34.2M42.8M25.9M18.6M28.6M15.5M16.4M13.0M18.0M19.0M
198073.8M34.4M44.0M26.7M19.2M29.5M16.0M17.1M13.3M18.6M19.5M
198176.1M35.3M45.1M27.5M19.8M30.5M16.6M17.8M13.6M19.2M20.0M
198278.4M36.7M46.4M28.3M20.4M31.6M17.2M18.5M13.9M19.9M20.5M
198380.4M37.7M47.8M29.3M21.1M32.7M17.8M19.1M14.2M20.6M21.1M
198482.5M38.7M49.2M30.2M21.8M33.9M18.5M19.5M14.6M21.3M21.6M
198584.9M39.8M50.7M31.3M22.5M35.0M19.2M19.9M15.0M22.0M22.1M
198687.2M41.0M52.2M32.3M23.3M36.2M19.9M20.3M15.5M22.7M22.6M
198789.6M42.5M53.7M33.3M24.0M37.3M20.6M20.7M16.0M23.4M23.1M
198892.0M44.2M55.2M34.4M24.8M38.5M21.4M21.1M16.5M24.1M23.5M
198994.5M45.9M56.7M35.5M25.4M39.6M22.1M21.6M17.0M24.8M23.9M
199097.1M47.6M58.4M36.7M26.1M40.7M22.9M22.0M17.6M25.4M24.4M
199199.7M49.7M60.0M37.9M26.8M41.7M23.6M22.5M18.2M26.0M24.8M
1992102.4M51.9M61.5M39.2M27.5M42.4M24.4M22.9M18.8M26.6M25.2M
1993105.1M53.7M62.9M40.7M28.3M43.3M25.1M23.4M19.4M27.3M25.6M
1994107.9M55.6M64.3M42.6M29.4M44.0M25.9M24.0M20.1M27.9M26.0M
1995110.8M57.5M65.7M44.4M30.4M44.5M26.6M24.7M20.7M28.5M26.4M
1996113.8M59.5M67.0M45.3M30.9M45.1M27.3M25.2M21.2M29.0M26.8M
1997116.8M61.4M68.4M46.0M31.6M45.7M28.1M25.8M21.9M29.6M27.2M
1998119.8M63.4M69.9M47.3M32.4M46.2M28.9M26.5M22.5M30.1M27.6M
1999123.0M65.4M71.5M48.9M33.3M46.7M29.7M27.1M23.3M30.5M28.0M
2000126.4M67.4M73.1M50.5M34.3M47.2M30.6M27.8M24.0M30.9M28.4M
2001129.9M69.5M74.7M52.1M35.2M47.6M31.6M28.5M24.7M31.3M28.8M
2002133.5M71.6M76.2M53.8M36.1M48.0M32.6M29.2M25.5M31.8M29.2M
2003137.2M73.8M77.9M55.3M37.1M48.5M33.7M29.9M26.4M32.2M29.6M
2004141.1M76.1M79.5M57.0M38.1M49.0M34.7M30.6M27.2M32.6M30.0M
2005145.0M78.4M81.1M58.8M39.2M49.5M35.8M31.3M28.0M33.1M30.4M
2006149.1M80.7M82.7M60.6M40.3M50.0M36.9M32.0M28.8M33.6M30.8M
2007153.3M83.1M84.3M62.5M41.4M50.5M38.0M32.8M29.7M34.2M31.2M
2008157.6M85.5M85.9M64.4M42.6M51.1M39.2M33.6M30.5M34.8M31.6M
2009162.0M88.0M87.5M66.4M43.6M51.7M40.4M34.6M31.5M35.5M32.0M
2010166.6M90.5M89.2M68.6M44.8M52.3M41.6M35.4M32.4M36.2M32.5M
2011171.4M93.1M91.1M70.8M46.0M53.0M42.8M36.1M33.4M36.9M32.9M
2012176.2M95.8M93.2M73.3M47.4M53.8M43.9M36.9M34.3M37.6M33.4M
2013181.0M98.4M95.3M75.8M48.8M54.7M45.0M37.8M35.3M38.4M33.8M
2014185.9M101.1M97.5M78.4M50.4M55.6M46.1M38.8M36.4M39.2M34.2M
2015190.7M103.9M99.6M81.0M52.0M56.7M47.1M40.0M37.5M40.0M34.6M
2016195.4M106.7M101.6M84.0M53.8M57.3M48.1M41.3M38.8M40.9M35.0M
2017200.3M109.7M103.7M87.1M55.7M57.6M49.2M42.7M40.2M41.7M35.4M
2018204.9M112.7M105.7M90.0M57.4M58.6M50.2M44.2M41.6M42.5M35.8M
2019209.5M115.7M107.6M92.9M59.2M59.6M51.2M45.5M43.0M43.3M36.2M
2020214.0M118.9M109.3M96.0M61.0M60.6M52.2M46.8M44.5M44.0M36.6M
2021218.5M122.1M111.0M99.1M62.8M61.5M53.2M48.1M45.9M44.8M37.0M
2022223.2M125.4M112.6M102.4M64.7M62.4M54.3M49.4M47.3M45.5M37.3M
2023227.9M128.7M114.5M105.8M66.6M63.2M55.3M50.0M48.7M46.2M37.7M
2024232.7M132.1M116.5M109.3M68.6M64.0M56.4M50.4M50.0M46.8M38.1M
2025237.5M135.5M118.4M112.8M70.5M64.7M57.5M51.7M51.4M47.4M38.4M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the most populous country in Africa?

In 2025, Nigeria ranks #1 with 237.5M, followed by Ethiopia (135.5M) and Egypt (118.4M). Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.POP.TOTL), population, millions; Africa.

What is the most populous country in Africa?

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with about 237.5 million people in 2025. Ethiopia is second at 135.5 million and Egypt third at 118.4 million.

How has Nigeria's population changed since 1960?

Nigeria's population has grown from about 45.1 million in 1960 to 237.5 million in 2025, more than five times larger. It was already the largest country in Africa in 1960.

Which African countries have more than 100 million people?

Four countries: Nigeria (237.5 million), Ethiopia (135.5 million), Egypt (118.4 million) and DR Congo (112.8 million), all in 2025. Tanzania is next at 70.5 million.

Where does this data come from?

World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.POP.TOTL), population, millions; Africa. Retrieved November 4, 2026. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

Can I turn this chart into a video?

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