APIDocsPricingGet a free API key
Indicator

Median Age by African country

2026

Median age of the population, in years.

Africa, 202654 of 54 countries
20.9population-weighted average
Highest in 2026Mauritius · 38.3Lowest in 2026Central African Republic · 14.6Reported in 20260 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 17.6Democratic Republic of the Congo — 15.9Somalia — 15.6Kenya — 20.3Sudan — 18.8Chad — 15.7South Africa — 28.9Lesotho — 22.1Zimbabwe — 18.3Botswana — 23.7Namibia — 21.5Senegal — 19.8Mali — 15.9Mauritania — 17.5Benin — 18.2Niger — 15.7Nigeria — 18.3Cameroon — 18.2Togo — 19.2Ghana — 21.6Cote d'Ivoire — 18.5Guinea — 18.5Guinea-Bissau — 19.6Liberia — 19.0Sierra Leone — 19.9Burkina Faso — 18.0Central African Republic — 14.6Republic of the Congo — 18.7Gabon — 21.6Equatorial Guinea — 20.9Zambia — 18.2Malawi — 18.4Mozambique — 16.6Eswatini — 22.7Angola — 16.7Burundi — 16.6Madagascar — 19.4Gambia — 18.8Tunisia — 33.4Algeria — 28.8Eritrea — 19.5Morocco — 30.1Egypt — 24.7Libya — 28.0Ethiopia — 19.3Djibouti — 25.2Uganda — 17.1Rwanda — 20.2South Sudan — 19.0Nigeria 18.3Nigeria 18.3Ethiopia 19.3Ethiopia 19.3Kenya 20.3Kenya 20.3South Africa 28.9South Africa 28.92026HIGHEST IN 2026Mauritiusnot drawn38.3Seychellesnot drawn34.6Tunisia33.4Morocco30.1Cabo Verdenot drawn29.5LOWEST IN 2026Central African Republic14.6Somalia15.6Niger15.7Chad15.7Democratic Republic of the Congo15.9PINNEDEthiopia19.327 of 54Kenya20.319 of 54Nigeria18.337 of 54South Africa28.96 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNComorosnot drawn20.7Sao Tome and Principenot drawn19.7years · quintiles of the observed range14.617.518.719.722.738.3no record
20142026
UN WPP · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries27.3
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries23.8
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries20.8
Western Africa16 of 16 countries19.3
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries18.0
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2026 figure20.9

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
54 countries have a modelled 2026 figureThe provider estimated or projected it rather than measuring it that year. Those points are tagged Modelled in the table and drawn like any other on the map — read the tag before you quote the number.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2026 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Median AgeMedian age of the population, in years.
SourceUN WPP, with processing by Africa API
Unityears
Last updated7 Mar 2026
Next expected updateMar 2027
Date range1950–2026
Coverage54 of 54 countries · 0 reported, 54 modelled, 0 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 0 countries did so for 2026 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2026 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Median Age". Data adapted from UN WPP. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/median-age
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=median_age_years&year=2026&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
DemographicsPopulationTotal mid-year population.DemographicsPopulation GrowthAnnual population growth rate.DemographicsLife ExpectancyLife expectancy at birth, in years.

Median Age: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

54 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryMedian AgePeriod
1Mauritius38.3 years2026
2Seychelles34.6 years2026
3Tunisia33.4 years2026
4Morocco30.1 years2026
5Cabo Verde29.5 years2026
6South Africa28.9 years2026
7Algeria28.8 years2026
8Libya28 years2026
9Djibouti25.2 years2026
10Egypt24.7 years2026
11Botswana23.7 years2026
12Eswatini22.7 years2026
13Lesotho22.1 years2026
14Ghana21.6 years2026
15Gabon21.6 years2026
16Namibia21.5 years2026
17Equatorial Guinea20.9 years2026
18Comoros20.7 years2026
19Kenya20.3 years2026
20Rwanda20.2 years2026
21Sierra Leone19.9 years2026
22Senegal19.8 years2026
23Sao Tome and Principe19.7 years2026
24Guinea-Bissau19.6 years2026
25Eritrea19.5 years2026
26Madagascar19.4 years2026
27Ethiopia19.3 years2026
28Togo19.2 years2026
29South Sudan19 years2026
30Liberia19 years2026
31Gambia18.8 years2026
32Sudan18.8 years2026
33Republic of the Congo18.7 years2026
34Cote d'Ivoire18.5 years2026
35Guinea18.5 years2026
36Malawi18.4 years2026
37Nigeria18.3 years2026
38Zimbabwe18.3 years2026
39Cameroon18.2 years2026
40Benin18.2 years2026
41Zambia18.2 years2026
42Burkina Faso18 years2026
43Tanzania17.6 years2026
44Mauritania17.5 years2026
45Uganda17.1 years2026
46Angola16.7 years2026
47Burundi16.6 years2026
48Mozambique16.6 years2026
49Mali15.9 years2026
50Democratic Republic of the Congo15.9 years2026
51Chad15.7 years2026
52Niger15.7 years2026
53Somalia15.6 years2026
54Central African Republic14.6 years2026
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking 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.

Embed this ranking

free · updates with the data

Drop this ranking into an article or a site and it stays current as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed; a citation link is included.

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/median-age" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:640px" title="Median Age 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/indicators/median-age">Median Age by African country, Africa API</a></p>

Every indicator, by topic

207 indicators, each ranked across the African countries that carry it.

Demographics

Economy

Trade

Development

Health

Child Welfare

Education

Food Security

Agriculture

Governance

Humanitarian

Technology

Infrastructure

Energy

Climate