Nigeria Population
Nigeria had an estimated population of 237,527,782 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 6th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 2.89% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.06% a year.
Nigeria at a glance
How Nigeria's population is changing
Nigeria's population is growing fast: +2.06% a year, which works out to about +4,898,468 people per year, or +13,412 a day. Births (32.5 per 1,000) and deaths (11.6 per 1,000) alone would give +2.09% a year; net migration removes about 15,258 people a year (−0.01%). Roughly one in every 35 people on Earth lives in Nigeria.
Population of Nigeria since 1960
In 1960, Nigeria had 45,053,782 people. By 2025 that was 237,527,782 — 5.3× larger. The fastest growth came between 1975 and 1985, when the population rose by 34%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 45,053,782 | — |
| 1970 | 55,893,838 | +24.1% |
| 1980 | 73,764,641 | +32.0% |
| 1990 | 97,120,925 | +31.7% |
| 2000 | 126,382,494 | +30.1% |
| 2010 | 166,642,886 | +31.9% |
| 2020 | 213,996,181 | +28.4% |
| 2025 | 237,527,782 | +11.0% |
Nigeria from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Nigeria at about 12,100,860 people in 1800; the UN estimates 237,527,788 in 2025 (20× 1800) and projects 476,747,779 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 101% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 12,100,860 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 13,540,231 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 18,664,170 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 37,283,019 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 126,382,490 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 237,527,788 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 359,185,557 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 446,969,593 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 476,747,779 | 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 Nigeria
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 237,527,782. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lagos | 12,791,699 | UN urban centre | 5.39% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Onitsha | 5,627,706 | UN urban centre | 2.37% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Kano | 4,840,280 | UN urban centre | 2.04% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Owerri | 3,833,343 | UN urban centre | 1.61% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | Ibadan | 3,720,721 | UN urban centre | 1.57% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 6 | Port Harcourt | 2,341,445 | UN urban centre | 0.99% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Kaduna | 1,890,448 | UN urban centre | 0.80% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Benin City | 1,845,432 | UN urban centre | 0.78% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 9 | Warri | 1,607,702 | UN urban centre | 0.68% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 10 | Uyo | 1,567,115 | UN urban centre | 0.66% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
How Nigeria compares
Nigeria has almost the same population as Pakistan (255,219,554).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Nigeria | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #4 |  Indonesia | 285,721,236 | +20% | compare → |
| #5 |  Pakistan | 255,219,554 | +7% | compare → |
| #7 |  Brazil | 212,812,405 | −10% | compare → |
| #8 |  Bangladesh | 175,686,899 | −26% | compare → |
Compare Nigeria with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan.
Explore around Nigeria
Land neighbours (3)
Cameroon 29,879,337 · 7.9× smaller · compare
Niger 27,917,831 · 8.5× smaller · compare
Benin 14,814,460 · 16.0× smaller · compare
Nigeria's 3 neighbours together hold 72,611,628 people — 0.3× Nigeria's population. The most populous is Cameroon (29,879,337).
In its region
Nigeria is the 1st most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 18.0% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings featuring Nigeria
- Largest countries by population #6
- Highest birth rates #20
- Highest fertility rates #15
- Youngest populations (share aged 0–14) #20
Cities
Lagos, Onitsha, Kano, Owerri, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Benin City — all Nigeria's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Nigeria 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
A faster rate is not a guaranteed future population
Nigeria's positive annual growth estimate describes change over a reference period. Extending the same percentage far into the future is a constant-rate scenario—not a UN forecast and not evidence that the rate will persist.
The page's long-run UN series uses demographic assumptions that can change over time. Compare values within that series rather than joining a World Bank estimate to a different UN vintage and calling the difference observed growth. Understand the two kinds of projection.