Africa

Largest Countries:: Algeria, DR Congo
Number of Countries:: 58
Land Area:: 30.3M km² (20.37%)

Africa is the second-largest and second-most populous continent on Earth, and is the only continent located in all four hemispheres. Africa comprises 20.37% of the world's land area, along with 19.1% of the world's current population. It also has the highest ranked growth rate today. The estimated population for Africa is 1,584,985,258.

1,584,985,258

Total Population

52/km²

Density

19.1%

% of World Population

35.9M 2.27%

Annual Growth

Africa Population by Country

< 1M

1M - 10M

10M - 50M

50M - 100M

100M - 300M

> 300M

58 countries

Country	Population ↓	Density /km²
Nigeria	242,431,832	262
Ethiopia	138,902,185	126
Egypt	120,101,175	120
DR Congo	116,452,162	50
Tanzania	72,563,780	77
South Africa	65,453,084	54
Kenya	58,636,412	101
Sudan	53,282,719	28
Uganda	52,761,469	218
Algeria	48,028,334	20
Angola	40,215,179	32
Morocco	38,762,441	87
Mozambique	36,639,851	46
Ghana	35,697,557	150
Madagascar	33,522,052	57
Ivory Coast	33,494,346	104
Cameroon	30,640,817	64
Niger	28,814,878	23
Mali	25,932,275	21
Burkina Faso	24,601,700	90
Malawi	22,785,535	192
Zambia	22,521,915	30
Chad	21,560,380	17
Somalia	20,305,907	32
Senegal	19,366,548	98
Zimbabwe	17,273,580	44
Guinea	15,441,993	63
Benin	15,170,419	135
Rwanda	14,889,693	565
Burundi	14,729,157	529
South Sudan	12,436,037	20
Tunisia	12,415,138	76
Togo	9,930,918	175
Sierra Leone	8,996,745	125
Libya	7,539,851	4.3
Republic of the Congo	6,637,785	19
Liberia	5,853,949	53
Central African Republic	5,698,984	9.1
Mauritania	5,461,319	5.3
Eritrea	3,682,669	31
Namibia	3,153,246	3.8
Gambia	2,884,079	270
Gabon	2,647,399	9.9
Botswana	2,603,388	4.5
Lesotho	2,389,336	79
Guinea-Bissau	2,297,808	64
Equatorial Guinea	1,984,468	71
Eswatini	1,269,859	73
Mauritius	1,265,059	620
Djibouti	1,199,459	52
Comoros	899,010	483
Reunion	886,298	353
Western Sahara	610,813	2.3
Cape Verde	529,630	131
Mayotte	347,536	929
Sao Tome and Principe	244,994	254
Seychelles	134,959	299
Saint Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	5,147	0.19

Africa's Population Growth

Africa Population

Historical

Click toggle to switch to projected data.

Year ↓	Population	Change	Density /km²
2026	1,584,985,258	2.27%	52
2025	1,549,867,585	2.34%	51
2020	1,380,821,167	2.51%	46
2015	1,220,075,494	2.62%	40
2010	1,072,216,499	2.61%	35
2005	942,546,383	2.56%	31
2000	830,582,527	2.54%	27
1995	732,695,156	2.62%	24
1990	643,775,028	2.84%	21
1985	559,663,772	2.99%	18
1980	483,051,385	2.91%	16
1975	418,433,161	2.74%	14
1970	365,551,875	2.63%	12
1965	321,013,246	2.49%	11
1960	283,921,957	2.29%	9.4
1955	253,537,855	2.17%	8.4
1950	227,776,415	1.76%	7.5
1945	208,776,384	1.58%	6.9
1940	193,080,483	1.32%	6.4
1935	180,793,768	1.27%	6.0
1930	169,724,996	1.25%	5.6
1925	159,481,926	1.14%	5.3
1920	150,686,340	0.52%	5.0
1915	146,863,516	0.41%	4.8
1910	143,890,103	0.4%	4.7
1905	141,042,447	0.35%	4.6
1900	138,578,556	0%	4.6

Year ↑	Population	Change	Density /km²
2026	1,584,985,258	2.27%	52
2030	1,727,213,462	2.17%	57
2035	1,909,745,191	2.03%	63
2040	2,095,653,386	1.88%	69
2045	2,282,241,721	1.72%	75
2050	2,466,647,623	1.57%	81
2055	2,647,051,973	1.42%	87
2060	2,821,497,086	1.28%	93
2065	2,988,210,862	1.15%	98
2070	3,145,215,298	1.03%	104
2075	3,291,312,267	0.91%	108
2080	3,424,700,642	0.8%	113
2085	3,544,047,838	0.69%	117
2090	3,649,045,634	0.59%	120
2095	3,738,661,365	0.49%	123

Africa Population Pyramid

Africa Overview

Africa is the second-largest and second most populous continent on earth with an estimated population in 2016 of 1.2 billion people. Africa is home to 54 recognized sovereign states and countries, 9 territories and 2 de facto independent states with very little recognition. The UN Population Fund stated in 2009 that the population of Africa had hit the one billion mark and had therefore doubled in size over the course of 27 years.

The Population Fund’s Director Thoraya Obeid spoke to the BBC at the time and underlined the reasons behind the growing population.

“African countries are all growing fast … because there is a large number of women who have no access to planning their families,” she said. “It’s an African phenomenon of a large growing population and a large percentage of young people in the population.”

Africa Population Growth and Life Expectancy

54 countries make up the continent of Africa, and while population growth is relatively low in some areas, countries such as Nigeria and Uganda are increasing at an advanced rate. In most countries in the continent, the population growth is in excess of 2% every year.

In addition, there is a high proportion of younger people within the Africa population as a whole, with reports that 41% of the African population is under the age of 15. The life expectancy is also low – less than 50 in many nations and averaging 52 across the continent as a whole. This has reduced considerably over the course of the last twenty years with a widespread HIV and AIDS epidemic taking much of the blame for that statistic.

Infant mortality is also extremely high, and in Mali, it is reported that there are 102 deaths per 1,000 live births. All of these statistics could potentially lead to a fall in population numbers. but in Africa, the issue over family planning leads to the reverse effect.

Africa Demographics

The African nations as a whole are made up from such a diverse set of components that it is impossible to list them in full concerning demographics. However, in certain parts of the continent, there has been an increase in Asian and European settlers, which has also served to boost the population statistics as a whole.

In former British colonies, this can be seen extensively, and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa are all good examples as to a growing set of diverse ethnicities.

The population in Africa has grown rapidly over the last 40 years and it has a relatively young population, with more than half of the population under 25 in some states.