Demographics · Africa ranking
Population Density by African country
Mauritius has the highest population density of any African country, at 623.2/km², ahead of Rwanda and Burundi.
People per square kilometre of land area. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · UN World Population Prospects, 2026.
Mauritius
Rwanda
BurundiBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Population Density | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritius | 623.2/km² | |
| 2 | Rwanda | 615/km² | |
| 3 | Burundi | 567.6/km² | |
| 4 | Comoros | 483.1/km² | |
| 5 | Seychelles | 295.3/km² | |
| 6 | Gambia | 285/km² | |
| 7 | Nigeria | 266.2/km² | |
| 8 | Uganda | 264.1/km² | |
| 9 | Sao Tome and Principe | 255.2/km² | |
| 10 | Malawi | 241/km² | |
| 11 | Togo | 182.6/km² | |
| 12 | Ghana | 156.9/km² | |
| 13 | Ethiopia | 138.9/km² | |
| 14 | Benin | 134.5/km² | |
| 15 | Cabo Verde | 131.4/km² | |
| 16 | Sierra Leone | 125.4/km² | |
| 17 | Egypt | 120.7/km² | |
| 18 | Cote d'Ivoire | 105.3/km² | |
| 19 | Kenya | 101/km² | |
| 20 | Senegal | 100.6/km² | |
| 21 | Burkina Faso | 89.9/km² | |
| 22 | Morocco | 86.9/km² | |
| 23 | Tanzania | 81.9/km² | |
| 24 | Guinea-Bissau | 81.7/km² | |
| 25 | Tunisia | 79.9/km² | |
| 26 | Lesotho | 78.7/km² | |
| 27 | Eswatini | 73.1/km² | |
| 28 | Equatorial Guinea | 70.7/km² | |
| 29 | Cameroon | 65.7/km² | |
| 30 | Guinea | 62.8/km² | |
| 31 | Liberia | 60.8/km² | |
| 32 | Madagascar | 57.6/km² | |
| 33 | South Africa | 53.6/km² | |
| 34 | Djibouti | 51.7/km² | |
| 35 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 51.4/km² | |
| 36 | Mozambique | 46.6/km² | |
| 37 | Zimbabwe | 44.7/km² | |
| 38 | Somalia | 32.4/km² | |
| 39 | Angola | 32.3/km² | |
| 40 | Eritrea | 30.4/km² | |
| 41 | Zambia | 30.3/km² | |
| 42 | Sudan | 30.2/km² | |
| 43 | Niger | 22.7/km² | |
| 44 | South Sudan | 22/km² | |
| 45 | Mali | 21.3/km² | |
| 46 | Algeria | 20.2/km² | |
| 47 | Republic of the Congo | 19.4/km² | |
| 48 | Chad | 17.1/km² | |
| 49 | Gabon | 10.3/km² | |
| 50 | Central African Republic | 9.1/km² | |
| 51 | Mauritania | 5.3/km² | |
| 52 | Botswana | 4.6/km² | |
| 53 | Libya | 4.5/km² | |
| 54 | Namibia | 3.8/km² |
Comoros
Seychelles
Gambia
Nigeria
Uganda
Sao Tome and Principe
Malawi
Togo
Ghana
Ethiopia
Benin
Cabo Verde
Sierra Leone
Egypt
Cote d'Ivoire
Kenya
Senegal
Burkina Faso
Morocco
Tanzania
Guinea-Bissau
Tunisia
Lesotho
Eswatini
Equatorial Guinea
Cameroon
Guinea
Liberia
Madagascar
South Africa
Djibouti
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mozambique
Zimbabwe
Somalia
Angola
Eritrea
Zambia
Sudan
Niger
South Sudan
Mali
Algeria
Republic of the Congo
Chad
Gabon
Central African Republic
Mauritania
Botswana
Libya
NamibiaGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Population Density figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=population_density_per_km2&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UN World Population Prospects, 2026. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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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 population density?
Mauritius has the highest population density in Africa at 623.2/km² (2026), followed by Rwanda and Burundi.
Which African country has the lowest population density?
Namibia has the lowest population density of the 54 African countries with data, at 3.8/km² (2026).
How many African countries report Population Density data?
54 of 54 African countries have a Population Density 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_density_per_km2&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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