Demographics of Africa

This article is about the contemporary demographics of Africans. For historical information, see List of ethnic groups of Africa.

Demographics of Africa
Population pyramid of Africa in 2023 based on the United Nations geoscheme for Africa collective grouping
Density44 per sq km (2019 est.)
Growth rate2.5% per annum (2017 est.)
Map of Africa indicating Human Development Index (2021).

The population of Africa has grown rapidly over the past century[1] and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by increasing life expectancy in most African countries.[2][3] Total population as of 2024 is about 1.5 billion,[4] with a growth rate of about 100 million every three years. The total fertility rate (births per woman) for Africa is 4.7 as of 2018, the highest in the world according to the World Bank.[5] The most populous African country is Nigeria with over 206 million inhabitants as of 2020 and a growth rate of 2.6% p.a.[6]

  1. ^ Zinkina J., Korotayev A. Explosive Population Growth in Tropical Africa: Crucial Omission in Development Forecasts (Emerging Risks and Way Out). World Futures 70/2 (2014): 120–139 Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". population.un.org. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. ^ See List of countries by life expectancy; according to the 2012 CIA Factbook, 4 of 53 countries show a life expectancy at birth below 50 years
  4. ^ "Population of Africa – Worldometers". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Fertility rate, total (births per woman) - Africa". The World Bank. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference UN2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).