Demographics · Africa ranking
Population by African country
Nigeria has the highest total population of any African country, at 237.53M — 1.8× Ethiopia's 135.47M.
Total mid-year population. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025.
Nigeria
Ethiopia
EgyptBy region
The top 5 countries account for 44% of Africa's total total population.
Full ranking
| # | Country | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigeria | 237.53M | |
| 2 | Ethiopia | 135.47M | |
| 3 | Egypt | 118.37M | |
| 4 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 112.83M | |
| 5 | Tanzania | 70.55M | |
| 6 | South Africa | 64.75M | |
| 7 | Kenya | 57.53M | |
| 8 | Sudan | 51.66M | |
| 9 | Uganda | 51.38M | |
| 10 | Algeria | 47.44M | |
| 11 | Angola | 39.04M | |
| 12 | Morocco | 38.43M | |
| 13 | Mozambique | 35.63M | |
| 14 | Ghana | 35.06M | |
| 15 | Madagascar | 32.74M | |
| 16 | Cote d'Ivoire | 32.71M | |
| 17 | Cameroon | 29.88M | |
| 18 | Niger | 27.92M | |
| 19 | Mali | 25.2M | |
| 20 | Burkina Faso | 24.07M | |
| 21 | Malawi | 22.22M | |
| 22 | Zambia | 21.91M | |
| 23 | Chad | 21M | |
| 24 | Somalia | 19.65M | |
| 25 | Senegal | 18.93M | |
| 26 | Zimbabwe | 16.95M | |
| 27 | Guinea | 15.1M | |
| 28 | Benin | 14.81M | |
| 29 | Rwanda | 14.57M | |
| 30 | Burundi | 14.39M | |
| 31 | Tunisia | 12.35M | |
| 32 | South Sudan | 12.19M | |
| 33 | Sierra Leone | 8.82M | |
| 34 | Togo | 8.59M | |
| 35 | Libya | 7.46M | |
| 36 | Republic of the Congo | 6.48M | |
| 37 | Liberia | 5.73M | |
| 38 | Central African Republic | 5.51M | |
| 39 | Mauritania | 5.32M | |
| 40 | Eritrea | 3.61M | |
| 41 | Namibia | 3.09M | |
| 42 | Gambia | 2.82M | |
| 43 | Gabon | 2.59M | |
| 44 | Botswana | 2.56M | |
| 45 | Lesotho | 2.36M | |
| 46 | Guinea-Bissau | 2.25M | |
| 47 | Equatorial Guinea | 1.94M | |
| 48 | Eswatini | 1.26M | |
| 49 | Mauritius | 1.24M | |
| 50 | Djibouti | 1.18M | |
| 51 | Comoros | 882.85K | |
| 52 | Cabo Verde | 527.33K | |
| 53 | Sao Tome and Principe | 240.25K | |
| 54 | Seychelles | 122.73K |
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tanzania
South Africa
Kenya
Sudan
Uganda
Algeria
Angola
Morocco
Mozambique
Ghana
Madagascar
Cote d'Ivoire
Cameroon
Niger
Mali
Burkina Faso
Malawi
Zambia
Chad
Somalia
Senegal
Zimbabwe
Guinea
Benin
Rwanda
Burundi
Tunisia
South Sudan
Sierra Leone
Togo
Libya
Republic of the Congo
Liberia
Central African Republic
Mauritania
Eritrea
Namibia
Gambia
Gabon
Botswana
Lesotho
Guinea-Bissau
Equatorial Guinea
Eswatini
Mauritius
Djibouti
Comoros
Cabo Verde
Sao Tome and Principe
SeychellesGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Population figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=population_total&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
Embed this ranking
Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest total population?
Nigeria has the highest total population in Africa at 237.53M (2025), followed by Ethiopia and Egypt.
Which African country has the lowest total population?
Seychelles has the lowest total population of the 54 African countries with data, at 122.73K (2025).
How many African countries report Population data?
54 of 54 African countries have a Population figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=population_total&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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