DR Congo Population

DR Congo at a glance

How DR Congo's population is changing

DR Congo's population is growing fast: +3.20% a year, which works out to about +3,613,456 people per year, or +9,893 a day. Births (40.9 per 1,000) and deaths (8.4 per 1,000) alone would give +3.25% a year; net migration removes about 27,309 people a year (−0.02%). Roughly one in every 73 people on Earth lives in DR Congo.

Population of DR Congo since 1960

In 1960, DR Congo had 15,264,846 people. By 2025 that was 112,832,473 — 7.4× larger. The fastest growth came between 1985 and 1995, when the population rose by 42%.

DR Congo from 1800 to 2100

Modelled estimates put DR Congo at about 5,163,819 people in 1800; the UN estimates 112,832,475 in 2025 (22× 1800) and projects 430,709,450 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 282% growth over the rest of this century.

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 DR Congo

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 112,832,473. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.

How DR Congo compares

DR Congo has almost the same population as Philippines (116,786,962).

Rank	Country	Population	vs DR Congo
#13	Egypt	118,365,995	+5%	compare →
#14	Philippines	116,786,962	+4%	compare →
#16	Vietnam	101,598,527	−10%	compare →
#17	Iran	92,417,681	−18%	compare →

Compare DR Congo with any country →

Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan.

Explore around DR Congo

Land neighbours (9)

• Tanzania 70,545,865 · 1.6× smaller · compare
• Uganda 51,384,894 · 2.2× smaller · compare
• Angola 39,040,039 · 2.9× smaller · compare
• Zambia 21,913,874 · 5.1× smaller · compare
• Rwanda 14,569,341 · 7.7× smaller · compare
• Burundi 14,390,003 · 7.8× smaller · compare
• South Sudan 12,188,788 · 9.3× smaller · compare
• Republic of the Congo 6,484,437 · 17.4× smaller · compare
• Central African Republic 5,513,282 · 20.5× smaller · compare

DR Congo's 9 neighbours together hold 236,030,523 people — 2.1× DR Congo's population. The most populous is Tanzania (70,545,865).

In its region

DR Congo is the 3rd most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 8.5% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.

Rankings featuring DR Congo

• Largest countries by population #15
• Fastest-growing countries #10
• Highest birth rates #5
• Highest fertility rates #3
• Youngest populations (share aged 0–14) #5

Cities

Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Beni, Kananga, Tshikapa, Bukavu, Kisangani — all DR Congo's cities on the map.

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