Nigeria vs Pakistan
Pakistan has 7% more people than Nigeria: 255,219,554 vs 237,527,782, a gap of 17.7 million. Nigeria is growing faster (+2.06% vs +1.56% a year), adding about 4,898,468 people a year against +3,981,282. Using continuous exponential growth from the stated base year, if these rates held, Nigeria would overtake Pakistan in about 14 years (from the 2025 population bases, around 2039) — a projection, not a forecast. Pakistan is the older society: 4.4% aged 65+ against 3.1% in Nigeria, while Nigeria has more children (40.5% under 15 vs 36.2%). People in Pakistan live 13.2 years longer on average (67.8 vs 54.6). GDP per capita is 1.3× higher in Pakistan ($1,596 vs $1,224).
Country/territory population bases: World Bank 2025 (Nigeria) and 2025 (Pakistan); growth years 2025 / 2025. Annual source values, not live counts; years may differ. Growth is national, not local.
Nigeria vs Pakistan — side by side
 Nigeria |  Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 237,527,7822025 | 255,219,5542025 |
| Growth rate / yr | +2.06%2025 | +1.56%2025 |
| Births per 1,000 | 32.52024 | 27.42024 |
| Deaths per 1,000 | 11.62024 | 6.42024 |
| Children per woman | 4.382024 | 3.552024 |
| Life expectancy | 54.6 yrs2024 | 67.8 yrs2024 |
| Aged 0–14 | 40.5%2025 | 36.2%2025 |
| Aged 65+ | 3.1%2025 | 4.4%2025 |
| Density | 250.2 /km²2023 | 321.1 /km²2023 |
| Area | 923,770 km²2023 | 796,100 km²2023 |
| Urban population | 63.8%2025 | 39.5%2025 |
| Net migration / yr | -15,2582025 | -1,235,3362025 |
| GDP per capita | $1,2242025 | $1,5962025 |
| Country population rank (available records) | #6 | #5 |
| Base / world population (World Bank 2025) | 2.89% | 3.11% |
Highlighted cell = the higher value (not "better"). Small print under each value is its own data year. Source: World Bank; country/territory population bases may have different years. These are not live counts.
Population since 1960
World Bank population history (not the separate UN WPP timeline). Nigeria: 5.3× from 1960 to 2025; Pakistan: 5.6× from 1960 to 2025. Left: absolute population. Right: each series indexed to its own first available year = 100; baseline years may differ.
More comparisons
Regions: Sub-Saharan Africa · Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan · rankings
Nigeria: Nigeria vs India, Nigeria vs China, Nigeria vs United States, Nigeria vs Indonesia, Nigeria vs Pakistan, Nigeria vs Brazil, Nigeria vs Bangladesh, Nigeria vs Russia.
Pakistan: Pakistan vs India, Pakistan vs China, Pakistan vs United States, Pakistan vs Indonesia, Pakistan vs Nigeria, Pakistan vs Brazil, Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Pakistan vs Russia.
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