Cameroon Population
Cameroon had an estimated population of 29,879,337 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 51st most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.36% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.56% a year.
Cameroon at a glance
How Cameroon's population is changing
Cameroon's population is growing fast: +2.56% a year, which works out to about +765,311 people per year, or +2,095 a day. Births (33.3 per 1,000) and deaths (7.0 per 1,000) alone would give +2.63% a year; net migration removes about 15,379 people a year (−0.05%). Roughly one in every 275 people on Earth lives in Cameroon.
Population of Cameroon since 1960
In 1960, Cameroon had 5,159,057 people. By 2025 that was 29,879,337 — 5.8× larger. The fastest growth came between 1984 and 1994, when the population rose by 34%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 5,159,057 | — |
| 1970 | 6,449,793 | +25.0% |
| 1980 | 8,512,219 | +32.0% |
| 1990 | 11,331,821 | +33.1% |
| 2000 | 14,912,631 | +31.6% |
| 2010 | 19,668,066 | +31.9% |
| 2020 | 26,210,558 | +33.3% |
| 2025 | 29,879,337 | +14.0% |
Cameroon from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Cameroon at about 1,860,054 people in 1800; the UN estimates 29,879,341 in 2025 (16× 1800) and projects 88,875,686 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 197% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 1,860,054 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 2,753,631 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 3,216,679 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 4,330,088 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 14,912,632 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 29,879,341 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 51,096,324 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 72,513,578 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 88,875,686 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Cameroon
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 29,879,337. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yaoundé | 5,106,087 | UN urban centre | 17.09% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Douala | 4,104,516 | UN urban centre | 13.74% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Maroua | 526,702 | UN urban centre | 1.76% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Bamenda | 394,155 | UN urban centre | 1.32% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | Ngaoundéré | 345,148 | UN urban centre | 1.16% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 6 | Kumba | 329,340 | UN urban centre | 1.10% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Bafoussam | 321,489 | UN urban centre | 1.08% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Kousséri | 244,247 | UN urban centre | 0.82% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 9 | Bertoua | 235,399 | UN urban centre | 0.79% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 10 | Limbe | 233,212 | UN urban centre | 0.78% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
How Cameroon compares
Cameroon has almost the same population as Nepal (29,618,118).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Cameroon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #49 |  Madagascar | 32,740,678 | +10% | compare → |
| #50 |  Ivory Coast | 32,711,547 | +9% | compare → |
| #52 |  Nepal | 29,618,118 | −1% | compare → |
| #53 |  Venezuela | 28,516,896 | −5% | compare → |
Compare Cameroon with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya.
Explore around Cameroon
Land neighbours (7)
Nigeria 237,527,782 · 7.9× the population · compare
Niger 27,917,831 · about the same population · compare
Chad 21,003,705 · 1.4× smaller · compare
Republic of the Congo 6,484,437 · 4.6× smaller · compare
Central African Republic 5,513,282 · 5.4× smaller · compare
Gabon 2,593,130 · 11.5× smaller · compare
Equatorial Guinea 1,938,431 · 15.4× smaller · compare
Cameroon's 7 neighbours together hold 302,978,598 people — 10.1× Cameroon's population. The most populous is Nigeria (237,527,782).
In its region
Cameroon is the 14th most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 2.3% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings featuring Cameroon
- Fastest-growing countries #22
- Highest birth rates #15
- Highest fertility rates #17
- Youngest populations (share aged 0–14) #16
Cities
Yaoundé, Douala, Maroua, Bamenda, Ngaoundéré, Kumba, Bafoussam, Kousséri — all Cameroon's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Cameroon when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.