List of African countries by population

Source	UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date	25 Sep 2025

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Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, followed by Ethiopia, Egypt, and DR Congo. These four countries have a total number of humans above 100 million. The top ten countries together hold a 61% share of the Africa population. As of 2025, 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 countries 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 countries, respectively. Sixteen countries are within the top 50 world population ranking.

Out of 58 countries/territories, only Mauritius and Saint Helena would see a population decrease in 2025. Nigeria would be the top contributor to the total population increment in 2025. Nigeria accounts for 13.94 percent of the total population increase in Africa. Nigeria's population would increase by 4.9 million, followed by the DR Congo (3.6 million) and Ethiopia (3.4 million). Nine countries will add at least one million humans in 2025.

The Central African Republic would have the highest population growth rate of 3.34% in 2025. Six countries in Africa have a growth rate exceeding 3%. 36 countries have a growth rate above 2%. Six countries are on the list of the world's top 10 fastest-growing nations. Only four countries have a growth rate between 0 and 1%. Saint Helena has a negative growth rate of -0.75%.

DR Congo, which is currently at 4th position, will surpass Egypt and Ethiopia by 2100 to become the 2nd most populous country in Africa. Fifth-ranked Tanzania will occupy the 4th spot in 2100. South Africa will move down to 12th position in 2100 from 4th in 1950.

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

Population
Growth rate (%)
Choropleth Map
Bubble Map

Population (UN)
Country/Region	Population		Share (%)		Rank		Growth (2025)		Growth Rank
Country/Region	2024	2025	Africa	World	Africa	World	Net	%	Africa	World
Burundi	14,047,786	14,390,003	0.928	0.175	30	78	338,663	2.35	22	28
Comoros	866,628	882,847	0.0570	0.0107	51	163	16,197	1.83	41	56
Djibouti	1,168,722	1,184,076	0.0764	0.0144	50	161	15,009	1.27	48	82
Eritrea	3,535,603	3,607,003	0.233	0.0438	40	132	75,154	2.08	32	42
Ethiopia	132,059,767	135,472,051	8.74	1.65	2	10	3,415,079	2.52	17	23
Kenya	56,432,944	57,532,493	3.71	0.699	7	26	1,102,195	1.92	39	53
Madagascar	31,964,956	32,740,678	2.11	0.398	15	49	778,312	2.38	20	26
Malawi	21,655,286	22,216,120	1.43	0.270	21	62	563,359	2.54	16	22
Mauritius	1,271,169	1,268,280	0.0818	0.0154	48	159	-3,083	-0.24	57	192
Mayotte	326,505	337,011	0.0217	0.00409	55	182	10,504	3.12	6	10
Mozambique	34,631,766	35,631,653	2.30	0.433	13	45	995,630	2.79	10	15
Réunion	878,591	882,405	0.0569	0.0107	52	164	3,799	0.43	56	149
Rwanda	14,256,567	14,569,341	0.940	0.177	29	77	325,109	2.23	26	34
Seychelles	130,418	132,779	0.00857	0.00161	57	194	2,297	1.73	43	62
Somalia	19,009,151	19,654,739	1.27	0.239	24	67	644,526	3.28	2	6
South Sudan	11,943,408	12,188,788	0.786	0.148	32	81	243,648	2.00	36	48
Uganda	50,015,092	51,384,894	3.32	0.624	9	31	1,373,604	2.67	13	19
United Republic of Tanzania	68,560,157	70,545,865	4.55	0.857	5	21	2,007,520	2.85	9	14
Zambia	21,314,956	21,913,874	1.41	0.266	22	63	603,022	2.75	11	16
Zimbabwe	16,634,373	16,950,795	1.09	0.206	26	74	320,868	1.89	40	54
Angola	37,885,849	39,040,039	2.52	0.474	11	39	1,162,391	2.98	7	11
Cameroon	29,123,744	29,879,337	1.93	0.363	17	51	758,782	2.54	15	21
Central African Republic	5,330,690	5,513,282	0.356	0.0670	38	121	184,304	3.34	1	5
Chad	20,299,123	21,003,705	1.36	0.255	23	64	551,806	2.63	14	20
Congo	6,332,961	6,484,437	0.418	0.0788	36	112	152,286	2.35	23	29
Democratic Republic of the Congo	109,276,265	112,832,473	7.28	1.37	4	15	3,592,190	3.18	4	8
Equatorial Guinea	1,892,516	1,938,431	0.125	0.0235	47	150	46,032	2.38	21	27
Gabon	2,538,952	2,593,130	0.167	0.0315	43	145	54,177	2.09	31	41
Sao Tome and Principe	235,536	240,254	0.0155	0.00292	56	188	4,732	1.97	38	51
Algeria	46,814,308	47,435,312	3.06	0.576	10	33	607,583	1.28	47	81
Egypt	116,538,258	118,365,995	7.64	1.44	3	13	1,735,777	1.47	46	73
Libya	7,381,023	7,458,555	0.481	0.0906	35	105	78,097	1.05	52	99
Morocco	38,081,173	38,430,770	2.48	0.467	12	41	339,416	0.88	53	108
Sudan	50,448,963	51,662,147	3.33	0.628	8	30	1,625,591	3.15	5	9
Tunisia	12,277,109	12,348,573	0.797	0.150	31	80	69,230	0.56	54	137
Western Sahara	590,506	600,904	0.0388	0.00730	53	172	10,149	1.69	44	64
Botswana	2,521,139	2,562,122	0.165	0.0311	44	146	40,792	1.59	45	68
Eswatini	1,242,822	1,256,174	0.0811	0.0153	49	160	13,674	1.09	51	96
Lesotho	2,337,423	2,363,325	0.152	0.0287	45	147	25,855	1.09	50	95
Namibia	3,030,131	3,092,816	0.200	0.0376	41	138	61,415	1.99	37	50
South Africa	64,007,187	64,747,319	4.18	0.787	6	24	721,661	1.11	49	92
Benin	14,462,724	14,814,460	0.956	0.180	28	76	353,829	2.39	19	25
Burkina Faso	23,548,781	24,074,580	1.55	0.292	20	59	525,868	2.18	28	37
Cabo Verde	524,877	527,326	0.0340	0.00641	54	175	2,371	0.45	55	145
Côte d'Ivoire	31,934,230	32,711,547	2.11	0.397	16	50	781,749	2.39	18	24
Gambia	2,759,988	2,822,093	0.182	0.0343	42	143	62,046	2.20	27	36
Ghana	34,427,414	35,064,272	2.26	0.426	14	46	635,805	1.81	42	57
Guinea	14,754,785	15,099,727	0.974	0.183	27	75	343,394	2.27	25	33
Guinea-Bissau	2,201,352	2,249,515	0.145	0.0273	46	148	48,398	2.15	29	38
Liberia	5,612,817	5,731,206	0.370	0.0696	37	117	117,928	2.06	33	44
Mali	24,478,595	25,198,821	1.63	0.306	19	58	727,953	2.89	8	12
Mauritania	5,169,395	5,315,065	0.343	0.0646	39	124	145,589	2.74	12	17
Niger	27,032,412	27,917,831	1.80	0.339	18	54	890,890	3.19	3	7
Nigeria	232,679,478	237,527,782	15.3	2.89	1	6	4,879,935	2.06	34	45
Saint Helena	5,237	5,197	0.00034	0.00006	58	232	-39	-0.75	58	218
Senegal	18,501,984	18,931,966	1.22	0.230	25	68	432,143	2.28	24	32
Sierra Leone	8,642,022	8,819,794	0.569	0.107	34	102	177,308	2.01	35	47
Togo	9,515,236	9,721,608	0.627	0.118	33	96	207,057	2.13	30	39
Africa	1,515,140,849	1,549,867,579		18.83			34,999,580	2.26

Estimated and Projected population (UN)
Country/Region	1950		2000		2050		2100
Country/Region	Population	Rank	Population	Rank	Population	Rank	Population	Rank
Burundi	2,254,938	29	6,470,194	31	24,131,720	28	37,873,961	27
Comoros	161,938	52	536,080	52	1,307,558	50	1,911,034	48
Djibouti	62,331	53	747,318	50	1,530,540	48	1,841,534	49
Eritrea	814,866	39	2,247,031	40	5,696,062	40	8,444,381	40
Ethiopia	17,670,412	3	67,411,494	3	225,021,875	2	367,289,596	3
Kenya	5,769,185	11	30,642,890	8	83,593,239	8	104,195,500	10
Madagascar	3,956,073	18	16,516,338	15	53,185,475	14	85,341,148	15
Malawi	2,950,300	21	11,315,942	22	37,361,683	22	59,141,258	22
Mauritius	525,558	43	1,216,629	47	1,107,197	51	581,716	54
Mayotte	20,526	56	156,492	55	645,426	54	1,375,551	50
Mozambique	5,910,225	10	18,129,653	13	63,530,952	11	104,346,534	9
Réunion	249,214	49	763,140	49	941,413	52	852,214	52
Rwanda	2,157,097	32	8,213,931	29	22,707,910	30	32,779,346	29
Seychelles	38,284	55	83,318	57	141,746	57	115,963	57
Somalia	2,213,131	31	8,838,713	26	37,206,512	24	67,364,024	19
South Sudan	2,493,283	27	6,032,267	32	18,341,974	31	23,840,772	32
Uganda	5,750,913	12	24,000,150	11	85,431,202	6	120,835,192	8
United Republic of Tanzania	7,625,155	8	34,260,139	6	129,621,102	5	262,834,721	4
Zambia	2,321,302	28	10,017,631	23	38,083,385	21	64,473,916	21
Zimbabwe	2,790,905	22	11,892,055	19	25,866,385	26	37,166,572	28
Angola	4,551,869	15	16,194,869	16	74,295,394	10	150,045,574	6
Cameroon	4,330,084	16	14,912,631	17	51,096,317	16	88,875,688	14
Central African Republic	1,438,057	34	3,833,416	36	10,616,753	36	18,779,149	34
Chad	2,525,454	26	8,512,093	27	38,857,686	20	69,546,607	17
Congo	835,261	38	3,151,345	37	11,006,471	35	20,025,644	33
Democratic Republic of the Congo	12,294,287	5	50,507,442	4	218,246,072	3	430,709,445	2
Equatorial Guinea	226,563	50	703,279	51	3,143,728	46	5,003,223	44
Gabon	472,842	45	1,275,572	45	4,084,533	43	6,903,323	41
Sao Tome and Principe	60,874	54	144,018	56	365,115	56	534,014	55
Algeria	9,018,426	6	30,903,893	7	59,565,554	12	64,487,527	20
Egypt	21,148,164	2	73,083,284	2	161,630,192	4	201,895,184	5
Libya	1,131,460	36	5,305,021	33	9,260,605	38	9,783,568	39
Morocco	8,935,450	7	28,423,435	9	43,440,431	19	37,884,370	26
Sudan	6,189,910	9	27,816,745	10	85,206,383	7	136,890,755	7
Tunisia	3,608,985	19	9,764,935	25	13,145,141	33	10,652,235	38
Western Sahara	12,960	57	271,943	54	777,316	53	831,293	53
Botswana	413,697	46	1,677,382	43	3,437,430	45	3,836,825	46
Eswatini	271,655	48	1,041,414	48	1,505,331	49	1,340,879	51
Lesotho	579,551	41	2,003,913	41	2,993,077	47	3,259,299	47
Namibia	514,591	44	1,818,647	42	4,512,301	41	5,897,944	42
South Africa	13,038,491	4	47,159,719	5	79,177,328	9	94,314,448	12
Benin	2,250,476	30	7,221,619	30	24,433,809	27	39,587,568	25
Burkina Faso	4,213,152	17	11,925,546	18	37,304,383	23	49,854,228	23
Cabo Verde	184,972	51	453,317	53	566,134	55	416,940	56
Côte d'Ivoire	2,735,180	23	17,699,004	14	55,746,985	13	104,042,819	11
Gambia	306,736	47	1,455,084	44	4,301,895	42	5,703,042	43
Ghana	5,080,664	13	19,637,087	12	50,553,047	17	67,547,746	18
Guinea	3,013,177	20	8,428,832	28	23,404,584	29	32,007,047	30
Guinea-Bissau	543,627	42	1,234,741	46	3,438,608	44	4,665,484	45
Liberia	918,902	37	2,928,117	38	8,910,530	39	12,665,395	37
Mali	4,696,911	14	11,559,290	20	46,154,079	18	79,354,048	16
Mauritania	657,715	40	2,613,441	39	9,415,598	37	17,118,469	35
Niger	2,597,810	24	11,509,630	21	52,513,876	15	90,819,274	13
Nigeria	37,283,010	1	126,382,494	1	359,185,556	1	476,747,781	1
Saint Helena	5,224	58	6,016	58	3,968	58	2,635	58
Senegal	2,555,369	25	9,968,260	24	30,364,954	25	47,014,186	24
Sierra Leone	1,999,623	33	4,423,611	35	12,948,325	34	15,934,256	36
Togo	1,399,600	35	5,140,037	34	15,584,778	32	26,300,754	31
Africa	227,776,419		830,582,528		2,466,647,618		3,813,883,603