List of African countries by population

Source	UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date	20 Aug 2024

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Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, followed by Ethiopia, Egypt and Democratic Republic of the Congo. These four countries have a total number of humans above 100 million. The top ten countries together hold a 61% share of the Africa population. As of 2024, 32 countries have a population above 10 million. The least populous country in Africa is Seychelles. Saint Helena is the least populous region in Africa. Eight countries/dependent territories in Africa have a population below one million.

Two African country are in the list of the top ten most populous countries globally as it hosts Nigeria and Ethiopia, the world's 6th and 10th most populous country, resp. Fifteen countries are within the top 50 world population ranking.

Out of 58 countries/territories, only Mauritius and Saint Helena would see a population decrease in 2024. Nigeria would be the top contributor to the total population increment in 2024. Nigeria accounts for 14 percent of the total population increase in Africa. Nigeria's population would increase by 4.8 million, followed by the DR Congo (3.5 million) and Ethiopia (3.4 million). Nine countries will add at least one million humans in 2024.

Chad would have the highest population growth rate of 4.31% in 2024. Seven countries in Africa have a growth rate above 3%. 36 countries have a growth rate above 2%. Six countries are on the list of the world's top 10 fastest-growing nations. Only four countries have a growth rate between 0-1%. Saint Helena has negative growth rate of -0.82%.

DR Congo, which is currently at 4th position, will surpass Egypt and Ethiopia by 2100 to become the 2nd most populous country in Africa. Fifth-ranked Tanzania will occupy 4th spot in 2100. South Africa will move down to 12th position in 2100 from 4th in 1950.

In 1950, Western Sahara was the least populous country in Africa. Now Seychelles will remain the least populous country until 2100.

Population
Growth rate (%)
Choropleth Map
Bubble Map

Population (UN)
Country/Region	Population		Share (%)		Rank		Growth (2024)		Growth Rank
Country/Region	2023	2024	Africa	World	Africa	World	Net	%	Africa	World
Burundi	13,689,450	14,047,786	0.927	0.172	30	78	345,770	2.46	17	23
Comoros	850,387	866,628	0.0572	0.0106	52	164	16,242	1.87	40	57
Djibouti	1,152,944	1,168,722	0.0771	0.0143	50	161	15,700	1.34	48	83
Eritrea	3,470,390	3,535,603	0.233	0.0433	40	132	67,646	1.91	38	54
Ethiopia	128,691,692	132,059,767	8.72	1.62	2	10	3,409,487	2.58	15	21
Kenya	55,339,003	56,432,944	3.72	0.691	7	26	1,096,901	1.94	37	52
Madagascar	31,195,932	31,964,956	2.11	0.392	15	49	773,132	2.42	20	26
Malawi	21,104,482	21,655,286	1.43	0.265	21	62	558,308	2.58	16	22
Mauritius	1,273,588	1,271,169	0.0839	0.0156	48	159	-2,696	-0.21	57	192
Mayotte	316,015	326,505	0.0215	0.00400	55	183	10,507	3.22	6	10
Mozambique	33,635,160	34,631,766	2.29	0.424	13	45	1,004,144	2.90	9	14
Réunion	874,883	878,591	0.0580	0.0108	51	163	3,831	0.44	56	152
Rwanda	13,954,471	14,256,567	0.941	0.175	29	77	300,439	2.11	32	44
Seychelles	127,951	130,418	0.00861	0.00160	57	194	2,423	1.86	41	59
Somalia	18,358,615	19,009,151	1.25	0.233	24	68	646,650	3.40	2	6
South Sudan	11,483,374	11,943,408	0.788	0.146	32	81	247,111	2.07	34	48
Uganda	48,656,601	50,015,092	3.30	0.613	9	31	1,365,999	2.73	13	19
United Republic of Tanzania	66,617,606	68,560,157	4.53	0.840	5	22	1,963,896	2.87	10	15
Zambia	20,723,965	21,314,956	1.41	0.261	22	63	594,815	2.79	12	18
Zimbabwe	16,340,822	16,634,373	1.10	0.204	26	74	311,977	1.88	39	56
Angola	36,749,906	37,885,849	2.50	0.464	12	41	1,145,987	3.02	7	11
Cameroon	28,372,687	29,123,744	1.92	0.357	17	52	752,405	2.58	14	20
Central African Republic	5,152,421	5,330,690	0.352	0.0653	38	122	180,881	3.39	3	7
Chad	19,319,064	20,299,123	1.34	0.249	23	65	857,358	4.22	1	3
Congo	6,182,885	6,332,961	0.418	0.0776	36	113	150,666	2.38	22	29
Democratic Republic of the Congo	105,789,731	109,276,265	7.21	1.34	4	15	3,520,227	3.22	5	9
Equatorial Guinea	1,847,549	1,892,516	0.125	0.0232	47	150	45,797	2.42	19	24
Gabon	2,484,789	2,538,952	0.168	0.0311	43	145	54,179	2.13	29	41
Sao Tome and Principe	230,871	235,536	0.0155	0.00289	56	188	4,703	2.00	36	51
Algeria	46,164,219	46,814,308	3.09	0.574	10	33	634,425	1.35	47	81
Egypt	114,535,772	116,538,258	7.69	1.43	3	13	1,919,697	1.65	44	68
Libya	7,305,659	7,381,023	0.487	0.0904	35	106	76,966	1.04	52	105
Morocco	37,712,505	38,081,173	2.51	0.467	11	40	359,778	0.94	53	112
Sudan	50,042,791	50,448,963	3.33	0.618	8	30	800,779	1.59	46	71
Tunisia	12,200,431	12,277,109	0.810	0.150	31	80	73,698	0.60	54	137
Western Sahara	579,729	590,506	0.0390	0.00723	53	172	10,646	1.80	43	62
Botswana	2,480,244	2,521,139	0.166	0.0309	44	146	41,174	1.63	45	70
Eswatini	1,230,506	1,242,822	0.0820	0.0152	49	160	13,031	1.05	51	103
Lesotho	2,311,472	2,337,423	0.154	0.0286	45	147	25,949	1.11	50	100
Namibia	2,963,095	3,030,131	0.200	0.0371	41	139	63,956	2.11	31	43
South Africa	63,212,384	64,007,187	4.22	0.784	6	24	758,605	1.19	49	96
Benin	14,111,034	14,462,724	0.955	0.177	28	76	349,642	2.42	21	27
Burkina Faso	23,025,776	23,548,781	1.55	0.289	20	59	525,730	2.23	26	37
Cabo Verde	522,331	524,877	0.0346	0.00643	54	175	2,526	0.48	55	145
Côte d'Ivoire	31,165,654	31,934,230	2.11	0.391	16	50	772,884	2.42	18	25
Gambia	2,697,845	2,759,988	0.182	0.0338	42	144	62,165	2.25	25	36
Ghana	33,787,914	34,427,414	2.27	0.422	14	46	637,913	1.85	42	60
Guinea	14,405,468	14,754,785	0.974	0.181	27	75	346,489	2.35	23	32
Guinea-Bissau	2,153,339	2,201,352	0.145	0.0270	46	148	47,928	2.18	27	39
Liberia	5,493,031	5,612,817	0.370	0.0688	37	118	118,850	2.12	30	42
Mali	23,769,127	24,478,595	1.62	0.300	19	58	712,499	2.91	8	13
Mauritania	5,022,441	5,169,395	0.341	0.0633	39	126	145,749	2.82	11	17
Niger	26,159,867	27,032,412	1.78	0.331	18	54	879,947	3.25	4	8
Nigeria	227,882,945	232,679,478	15.4	2.85	1	6	4,816,673	2.07	33	47
Saint Helena	5,289	5,237	0.00035	0.00006	58	232	-43	-0.82	58	223
Senegal	18,077,573	18,501,984	1.22	0.227	25	69	427,821	2.31	24	33
Sierra Leone	8,460,512	8,642,022	0.570	0.106	34	102	178,235	2.06	35	49
Togo	9,304,337	9,515,236	0.628	0.117	33	97	205,687	2.16	28	40
Africa	1,480,770,525	1,515,140,849		18.56			34,453,884	2.30

Estimated and Projected population (UN)
Country/Region	1950		2000		2050		2100
Country/Region	Population	Rank	Population	Rank	Population	Rank	Population	Rank
Burundi	2,254,938	29	6,470,194	31	24,131,720	28	37,873,961	27
Comoros	161,938	52	536,080	52	1,307,558	50	1,911,034	48
Djibouti	62,331	53	747,318	50	1,530,540	48	1,841,534	49
Eritrea	814,866	39	2,247,031	40	5,696,062	40	8,444,381	40
Ethiopia	17,670,412	3	67,411,494	3	225,021,875	2	367,289,596	3
Kenya	5,769,185	11	30,642,890	8	83,593,239	8	104,195,500	10
Madagascar	3,956,073	18	16,516,338	15	53,185,475	14	85,341,148	15
Malawi	2,950,300	21	11,315,942	22	37,361,683	22	59,141,258	22
Mauritius	525,558	43	1,216,629	47	1,107,197	51	581,716	54
Mayotte	20,526	56	156,492	55	645,426	54	1,375,551	50
Mozambique	5,910,225	10	18,129,653	13	63,530,952	11	104,346,534	9
Réunion	249,214	49	763,140	49	941,413	52	852,214	52
Rwanda	2,157,097	32	8,213,931	29	22,707,910	30	32,779,346	29
Seychelles	38,284	55	83,318	57	141,746	57	115,963	57
Somalia	2,213,131	31	8,838,713	26	37,206,512	24	67,364,024	19
South Sudan	2,493,283	27	6,032,267	32	18,341,974	31	23,840,772	32
Uganda	5,750,913	12	24,000,150	11	85,431,202	6	120,835,192	8
United Republic of Tanzania	7,625,155	8	34,260,139	6	129,621,102	5	262,834,721	4
Zambia	2,321,302	28	10,017,631	23	38,083,385	21	64,473,916	21
Zimbabwe	2,790,905	22	11,892,055	19	25,866,385	26	37,166,572	28
Angola	4,551,869	15	16,194,869	16	74,295,394	10	150,045,574	6
Cameroon	4,330,084	16	14,912,631	17	51,096,317	16	88,875,688	14
Central African Republic	1,438,057	34	3,833,416	36	10,616,753	36	18,779,149	34
Chad	2,525,454	26	8,512,093	27	38,857,686	20	69,546,607	17
Congo	835,261	38	3,151,345	37	11,006,471	35	20,025,644	33
Democratic Republic of the Congo	12,294,287	5	50,507,442	4	218,246,072	3	430,709,445	2
Equatorial Guinea	226,563	50	703,279	51	3,143,728	46	5,003,223	44
Gabon	472,842	45	1,275,572	45	4,084,533	43	6,903,323	41
Sao Tome and Principe	60,874	54	144,018	56	365,115	56	534,014	55
Algeria	9,018,426	6	30,903,893	7	59,565,554	12	64,487,527	20
Egypt	21,148,164	2	73,083,284	2	161,630,192	4	201,895,184	5
Libya	1,131,460	36	5,305,021	33	9,260,605	38	9,783,568	39
Morocco	8,935,450	7	28,423,435	9	43,440,431	19	37,884,370	26
Sudan	6,189,910	9	27,816,745	10	85,206,383	7	136,890,755	7
Tunisia	3,608,985	19	9,764,935	25	13,145,141	33	10,652,235	38
Western Sahara	12,960	57	271,943	54	777,316	53	831,293	53
Botswana	413,697	46	1,677,382	43	3,437,430	45	3,836,825	46
Eswatini	271,655	48	1,041,414	48	1,505,331	49	1,340,879	51
Lesotho	579,551	41	2,003,913	41	2,993,077	47	3,259,299	47
Namibia	514,591	44	1,818,647	42	4,512,301	41	5,897,944	42
South Africa	13,038,491	4	47,159,719	5	79,177,328	9	94,314,448	12
Benin	2,250,476	30	7,221,619	30	24,433,809	27	39,587,568	25
Burkina Faso	4,213,152	17	11,925,546	18	37,304,383	23	49,854,228	23
Cabo Verde	184,972	51	453,317	53	566,134	55	416,940	56
Côte d'Ivoire	2,735,180	23	17,699,004	14	55,746,985	13	104,042,819	11
Gambia	306,736	47	1,455,084	44	4,301,895	42	5,703,042	43
Ghana	5,080,664	13	19,637,087	12	50,553,047	17	67,547,746	18
Guinea	3,013,177	20	8,428,832	28	23,404,584	29	32,007,047	30
Guinea-Bissau	543,627	42	1,234,741	46	3,438,608	44	4,665,484	45
Liberia	918,902	37	2,928,117	38	8,910,530	39	12,665,395	37
Mali	4,696,911	14	11,559,290	20	46,154,079	18	79,354,048	16
Mauritania	657,715	40	2,613,441	39	9,415,598	37	17,118,469	35
Niger	2,597,810	24	11,509,630	21	52,513,876	15	90,819,274	13
Nigeria	37,283,010	1	126,382,494	1	359,185,556	1	476,747,781	1
Saint Helena	5,224	58	6,016	58	3,968	58	2,635	58
Senegal	2,555,369	25	9,968,260	24	30,364,954	25	47,014,186	24
Sierra Leone	1,999,623	33	4,423,611	35	12,948,325	34	15,934,256	36
Togo	1,399,600	35	5,140,037	34	15,584,778	32	26,300,754	31
Africa	227,776,419		830,582,528		2,466,647,618		3,813,883,603