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Demographics · Africa ranking

Population by African country

237.53MNigeria · highest shown · 2025

Nigeria has the highest reported total population among the 54 countries shown, at 237.53M (2025).

Total mid-year population. 54 of 54 countries are shown. Open a country to see its source details and available history.

1Nigeria237.53M2Ethiopia135.47M3Egypt118.37M
#1 vs #541935×Nigeria vs Seychelles
Median14.81MBenin
Lowest122.73KSeychelles

By region

total of countries shown

The 5 largest values account for 44% of the total across the countries shown.

East Africa473.37M
16 countries shown · highest value: Ethiopia
West Africa465.4M
16 countries shown · highest value: Nigeria
North Africa275.7M
6 countries shown · highest value: Egypt
Central Africa219.53M
9 countries shown · highest value: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Southern Africa112.89M
7 countries shown · highest value: South Africa

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryPopulationPeriod
1Nigeria
237.53M2025
2Ethiopia
135.47M2025
3Egypt
118.37M2025
4Democratic Republic of the Congo
112.83M2025
5Tanzania
70.55M2025
6South Africa
64.75M2025
7Kenya
57.53M2025
8Sudan
51.66M2025
9Uganda
51.38M2025
10Algeria
47.44M2025
11Angola
39.04M2025
12Morocco
38.43M2025
13Mozambique
35.63M2025
14Ghana
35.06M2025
15Madagascar
32.74M2025
16Cote d'Ivoire
32.71M2025
17Cameroon
29.88M2025
18Niger
27.92M2025
19Mali
25.2M2025
20Burkina Faso
24.07M2025
21Malawi
22.22M2025
22Zambia
21.91M2025
23Chad
21M2025
24Somalia
19.65M2025
25Senegal
18.93M2025
26Zimbabwe
16.95M2025
27Guinea
15.1M2025
28Benin
14.81M2025
29Rwanda
14.57M2025
30Burundi
14.39M2025
31Tunisia
12.35M2025
32South Sudan
12.19M2025
33Sierra Leone
8.82M2025
34Togo
8.59M2025
35Libya
7.46M2025
36Republic of the Congo
6.48M2025
37Liberia
5.73M2025
38Central African Republic
5.51M2025
39Mauritania
5.32M2025
40Eritrea
3.61M2025
41Namibia
3.09M2025
42Gambia
2.82M2025
43Gabon
2.59M2025
44Botswana
2.56M2025
45Lesotho
2.36M2025
46Guinea-Bissau
2.25M2025
47Equatorial Guinea
1.94M2025
48Eswatini
1.26M2025
49Mauritius
1.24M2025
50Djibouti
1.18M2025
51Comoros
882.85K2025
52Cabo Verde
527.33K2025
53Sao Tome and Principe
240.25K2025
54Seychelles
122.73K2025

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

Request the latest available Population values for the selected countries as JSON. The response includes source metadata; check reporting periods before comparing values.

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"
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iframe snippet

Paste this snippet into a page that supports iframes. The chart loads the available ranking observations and includes their reporting periods. A link to this page is included.

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/population" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Population by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:.5rem 0"><a href="https://africa-api.com/data/population">Population by African country — Africa API</a></p>

About this ranking

Which observations are included?

The table includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each row shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.

Does a higher value mean a better result?

The table is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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