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Demographics · Africa ranking

Urban Population by African country

91.9%Gabon leads · 2024

Gabon has the highest share of the population living in urban areas of any African country, at 91.9%, ahead of Libya and Cabo Verde.

Share of the population living in urban areas. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024.

#1 vs #545.3×Gabon vs Malawi
Median45.3%Seychelles
Lowest17.3%Malawi

By region

regional average
North Africa62.3%
6 countries · led by Libya
Central Africa59.8%
9 countries · led by Gabon
West Africa49.5%
16 countries · led by Cabo Verde
Southern Africa48.1%
7 countries · led by Botswana
East Africa35.3%
16 countries · led by Djibouti

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryUrban PopulationPeriod
1Gabon
91.9%2024
2Libya
87.9%2024
3Cabo Verde
76.8%2024
4Algeria
75.3%2024
5Djibouti
72.9%2024
6Equatorial Guinea
71.4%2024
7Angola
70.7%2024
8Tunisia
70.4%2024
9Sao Tome and Principe
68.9%2024
10Botswana
67.5%2024
11Gambia
64.3%2024
12Republic of the Congo
63.9%2024
13South Africa
63.7%2024
14Nigeria
63%2024
15Morocco
62.8%2024
16Mauritania
60.6%2024
17Ghana
58.4%2024
18Liberia
55.5%2024
19Cameroon
55.4%2024
20Senegal
55.2%2024
21Somalia
54.6%2024
22Cote d'Ivoire
54%2024
23Benin
52.5%2024
24Namibia
50.4%2024
25Guinea-Bissau
46.1%2024
26Zambia
45.5%2024
27Sierra Leone
45.4%2024
28Seychelles
45.3%2024
29Democratic Republic of the Congo
44.7%2024
30Central African Republic
44.1%2024
31Togo
43.8%2024
32Lesotho
43.7%2024
33Egypt
42.8%2024
34Zimbabwe
39.9%2024
35Mauritius
39%2024
36Guinea
38.1%2024
37Mozambique
36.4%2024
38Tanzania
36.2%2024
39Sudan
34.9%2024
40Eritrea
34.5%2024
41Comoros
33.5%2024
42Madagascar
32.4%2024
43Kenya
31.9%2024
44Mali
31.6%2024
45Uganda
31.3%2024
46Rwanda
29.9%2024
47Burkina Faso
28.3%2024
48Chad
26.9%2024
49Eswatini
26.2%2024
50Burundi
24.8%2024
51Ethiopia
23.6%2024
52South Sudan
21.4%2024
53Niger
18%2024
54Malawi
17.3%2024

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest Urban Population figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=urban_population_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa APIWorld Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024. 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

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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).

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Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest share of the population living in urban areas?

Gabon has the highest share of the population living in urban areas in Africa at 91.9% (2024), followed by Libya and Cabo Verde.

Which African country has the lowest share of the population living in urban areas?

Malawi has the lowest share of the population living in urban areas of the 54 African countries with data, at 17.3% (2024).

How many African countries report Urban Population data?

54 of 54 African countries have a recent Urban Population figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=urban_population_pct&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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