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Onitsha — UN urban centre

5,627,706

Onitsha: 5,627,706 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #69 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 7330; territory: Nigeria (NGA). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: 6.1735, 6.8205. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975756,883Estimate
19801,009,940Estimate
19851,344,335Estimate
19901,712,930Estimate
19951,983,208Estimate
20002,353,086Estimate
20052,790,861Estimate
20103,404,599Estimate
20154,139,918Estimate
20204,959,680Estimate
20255,627,706Estimate
20306,297,766Projection
20356,902,795Projection
20407,539,263Projection
20458,166,086Projection
20508,680,997Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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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.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.