Demographics of Nigeria

Demographics of Nigeria
Population pyramid of Nigeria in 2020
Population218,541,212 (2022 est.)
Growth rate2.53% (2022 est.)
Birth rate34.19 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate8.7 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy52.68 years
 • male52.28 years
 • female53.07 years
Fertility rate4.62 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate56.68 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate−0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years41.7%
65 and over3.3%
Sex ratio
Total1.02 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.06 male(s)/female
Under 151.04 male(s)/female
65 and over0.77 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityNigerian
Language
OfficialEnglish
Historical population of Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa[1][2][3][4] and the sixth most populous in the world.[5][6] It is also one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, with approximately 218.5 million people[7] in an area of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi).[8][9]

54.3% of Nigerians are urban dwellers, with the annual rate of urbanisation being estimated at 3.92%.[1][a] Nigeria is home to 371 ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages[1] and the variety of customs and traditions among them gives the country great cultural diversity. Three largest ethnic groups, namely the Hausa, Yorubas, and Igbos constitue more than 60% of the population.[1][10][11][12] The Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ogoni, Tiv, Urhobo-Isoko, Edo and Itsekiri are some of the other sizeable ethnic groups.[13] Over 1.2 million people living in Nigeria (0.5% of its total population, or 1 in every 200 people living in Nigeria) are from a continent other than Africa. There are 100,000 people from the United States,[14] 75,000 are from Lebanon,[15] 60,000 are from China[16] and 16,000 are from the United Kingdom.[17]

Nigeria has a young population overall, with 42.54% of inhabitants between the ages of 0–14.[1][18] There is also a very high dependency ratio at 88.2 dependants per 100 non-dependants.[1] The three main religious groups are Muslims (estimated to be 53.5% of the total population), Christians (estimated at 45.9%), and adherents of indigenous religions (estimated at 0.6%).[19] The predominantly Christian Igbo are found in the southeast.[20] Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in Igboland,[21][22][23] but Anglicanism is also strong, as are Pentecostalism and other Evangelical denominations.

Persons of different ethnic backgrounds most commonly communicate in English, although knowledge of two or more Nigerian languages is widespread. Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are the most widely used Nigerian languages. Nigerian Pidgin is used widely as an unofficial medium of communication, especially in the Nigerian cities of Warri, Sapele, Ughelli, Benin, and Port Harcourt.[24]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Nigeria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Nigeria, African Countries Lead as World Population Hits Eight Billion". thisdaylive.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Population in Africa, by country 2020". Statista. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. ^ "From the World's most populated countries to the least populated nations". nationsonline.org. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Country Comparison :: Population". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Experts worry as Nigeria becomes 4th most populous country". Daily Trust. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "World Bank Open Data". World Bank Open Data. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  8. ^ Akinyemi, Akanni Ibukun; Isiugo-Abanihe, Uche C. (24 March 2014). "Demographic dynamics and development in Nigeria". African Population Studies. 27 (2): 239–248. doi:10.11564/27-2-471.
  9. ^ "Buhari: By 2050, Nigeria's Population Projected to Rank Third Worldwide after India, China – THISDAYLIVE". thisdaylive.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Largest Ethnic Groups In Nigeria". WorldAtlas. 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Full list of all 371 tribes in Nigeria, states where they originate". Vanguard News. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Nigeria – The Road North". PBS. January 2003. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  13. ^ LeVan, A. Carl; Ukata, Patrick (25 October 2018). The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-880430-7.
  14. ^ "Impacts of Coronavirus on Developing Countries". Trinità dei Monti (in Italian). 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Planes and pyramids: The surreal mansions of Lebanon's Nigeria Avenue". Middle East Eye édition française. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  16. ^ Shinn, David H.; Eisenman, Joshua (2012). China and Africa. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812244199. JSTOR j.ctt3fhwkz.
  17. ^ "Brits Abroad". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  18. ^ Lysonski, Steven; Durvasula, Srinivas (28 October 2013). "Nigeria in transition: acculturation to global consumer culture". Journal of Consumer Marketing. 30 (6): 493–508. doi:10.1108/JCM-07-2013-0626. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference ciafactbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Okeke, Chukwuma O.; Ibenwa, Christopher N.; Okeke, Gloria Tochukwu (April 2017). "Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: The Igbo Example". SAGE Open. 7 (2). doi:10.1177/2158244017709322.
  21. ^ Nwaka, Jacinta C. (2011). "Beyond the Service of Schools: The Catholic Church and the Use of Creative Art in the Evangelization of the Lower Niger". Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. 20: 67–86. ISSN 0018-2540. JSTOR 41857175. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Catholic life in Igboland, Nigeria's Catholic stronghold". Catholics & Cultures. 7 May 2020. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Christianity in Nigeria". rpl.hds.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  24. ^ Osoba, Joseph Babasola (2015). "Analysis of Discourse in Nigerian Pidgin". Journal of Universal Language. 16: 131–159. doi:10.22425/jul.2015.16.1.131. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.


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