African Countries by Population

All 54 African countries ranked by population for 2026, with annual growth rate and population density. Sortable table sourced from UN and World Bank data.

This table ranks all 54 African countries by population, from the most to least populous, using the latest United Nations and national statistics-office estimates. Click any column heading to re-sort. Africa's total population is about 1.57B people — roughly 19% of humanity — growing at around 2.3% a year.

Nigeria is the most populous African country, while Seychelles is the least populous of the 54. For the economic ranking see African countries by GDP, or open the interactive map to explore visually.

#CountryPopulationGrowthDensity /km²Region
1🇳🇬 Nigeria230.0M+2.4%249West Africa
2🇪🇹 Ethiopia129.0M+2.5%117East Africa
3🇪🇬 Egypt112.0M+1.9%111North Africa
4🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of Congo105.0M+3.1%45Central Africa
5🇹🇿 Tanzania67.0M+2.9%71East Africa
6🇿🇦 South Africa61.0M+1.0%50Southern Africa
7🇰🇪 Kenya55.1M+2.2%95East Africa
8🇺🇬 Uganda50.0M+2.8%207East Africa
9🇩🇿 Algeria46.7M+1.7%20North Africa
10🇲🇦 Morocco38.0M+1.2%85North Africa
11🇦🇴 Angola37.0M+3.3%30Southern Africa
12🇲🇿 Mozambique34.6M+2.9%43Southern Africa
13🇬🇭 Ghana34.1M+2.0%143West Africa
14🇲🇬 Madagascar30.8M+2.5%52East Africa
15🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire29.4M+2.5%91West Africa
16🇨🇲 Cameroon29.3M+2.5%62Central Africa
17🇳🇪 Niger27.2M+3.7%21West Africa
18🇧🇫 Burkina Faso23.5M+2.9%86West Africa
19🇲🇱 Mali23.3M+3.0%19West Africa
20🇲🇼 Malawi20.9M+2.7%176Southern Africa
21🇿🇲 Zambia20.6M+2.9%27Southern Africa
22🇸🇴 Somalia18.6M+2.8%29East Africa
23🇹🇩 Chad18.3M+3.0%14Central Africa
24🇸🇳 Senegal18.3M+2.6%93West Africa
25🇿🇼 Zimbabwe16.7M+2.2%43Southern Africa
26🇬🇳 Guinea14.5M+2.4%59West Africa
27🇷🇼 Rwanda14.4M+2.3%547East Africa
28🇧🇯 Benin14.2M+2.7%124West Africa
29🇧🇮 Burundi13.4M+2.9%481East Africa
30🇹🇳 Tunisia12.5M+1.0%76North Africa
31🇸🇸 South Sudan11.5M+2.8%19East Africa
32🇹🇬 Togo9.0M+2.4%158West Africa
33🇸🇱 Sierra Leone8.8M+2.1%123West Africa
34🇱🇾 Libya7.2M+1.3%4North Africa
35🇨🇬 Republic of Congo6.3M+2.5%18Central Africa
36🇨🇫 Central African Republic5.9M+2.1%9Central Africa
37🇱🇷 Liberia5.5M+2.4%49West Africa
38🇲🇷 Mauritania5.0M+2.6%5West Africa
39🇪🇷 Eritrea3.7M+2.0%31East Africa
40🇧🇼 Botswana2.7M+1.9%5Southern Africa
41🇬🇲 Gambia2.7M+2.9%239West Africa
42🇳🇦 Namibia2.6M+1.8%3Southern Africa
43🇬🇦 Gabon2.4M+2.4%9Central Africa
44🇱🇸 Lesotho2.3M+0.8%76Southern Africa
45🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau2.1M+2.4%58West Africa
46🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea1.7M+2.8%61Central Africa
47🇲🇺 Mauritius1.3M+0.1%637East Africa
48🇸🇿 Eswatini1.2M+0.8%69Southern Africa
49🇩🇯 Djibouti1.1M+1.5%47East Africa
50🇰🇲 Comoros900K+2.2%483East Africa
51🇨🇻 Cape Verde600K+1.1%149West Africa
52🇪🇭 Western Sahara600K+2.5%2North Africa
53🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe230K+1.9%239Central Africa
54🇸🇨 Seychelles100K+0.7%218East Africa

Continental total: about 1.57B people across 54 countries and 30,365,000 km². The most populous country, Nigeria, alone accounts for roughly 15% of Africa's people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which African country has the largest population?

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with about 230.0M people, ahead of Ethiopia and Egypt.

What is the total population of Africa?

Africa's total population is approximately 1.57B (1,569,137,437) people across its 54 countries, making it the world's second most populous continent after Asia.

Which African country has the smallest population?

Seychelles has the smallest population of any African country, at about 100K people.

Which African country is growing fastest?

Niger has one of the highest population growth rates in Africa at about 3.7% per year. Rapid growth reshapes the labour force and urban demand within a decade.

Explore more

By GDPLargest African economies by nominal GDP. By Life ExpectancyLife expectancy at birth, country by country. By Literacy RateAdult literacy rates across Africa. All 54 CountriesThe full directory with every indicator. 5 RegionsHow the continent groups into five regions. Interactive MapClick any country to surface its data.

Last reviewed: 9 June 2026. Figures are revised when source organisations publish new releases. Data: World Bank, IMF, UN.