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Sub-Saharan Africa · 2025

Population, country by country

Everyone resident in the country at mid-year, whatever their legal status or citizenship. A modelled estimate, not a census count.

100%

122,730 to 2,249,515(9 countries)
2,363,325 to 6,484,437(10 countries)
8,591,626 to 18,931,966(9 countries)
19,654,739 to 32,740,678(10 countries)
35,064,272 to 237,527,782(10 countries)
No data (0 countries; also land this data set does not carry)

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Population, year by year

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Selected year · 2025

Population by country

Every figure links to its source record. No figure published and zero are different answers.

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Population in 2025 for Sub-Saharan Africa
Country	Population (persons)	Status
AGO	39,040,039^est.	Published
BEN	14,814,460^est.	Published
BWA	2,562,122^est.	Published
BFA	24,074,580^est.	Published
BDI	14,390,003^est.	Published
CPV	527,326^est.	Published
CMR	29,879,337^est.	Published
CAF	5,513,282^est.	Published
TCD	21,003,705^est.	Published
COM	882,847^est.	Published
COG	6,484,437^est.	Published
CIV	32,711,547^est.	Published
COD	112,832,473^est.	Published
DJI	1,184,076^est.	Published
GNQ	1,938,431^est.	Published
ERI	3,607,003^est.	Published
SWZ	1,256,174^est.	Published
ETH	135,472,051^est.	Published
GAB	2,593,130^est.	Published
GMB	2,822,093^est.	Published
GHA	35,064,272^est.	Published
GIN	15,099,727^est.	Published
GNB	2,249,515^est.	Published
KEN	57,532,493^est.	Published
LSO	2,363,325^est.	Published
LBR	5,731,206^est.	Published
MDG	32,740,678^est.	Published
MWI	22,216,120^est.	Published
MLI	25,198,821^est.	Published
MRT	5,315,065^est.	Published
MUS	1,243,741^est.	Published
MOZ	35,631,653^est.	Published
NAM	3,092,816^est.	Published
NER	27,917,831^est.	Published
NGA	237,527,782^est.	Published
RWA	14,569,341^est.	Published
STP	240,254^est.	Published
SEN	18,931,966^est.	Published
SYC	122,730^est.	Published
SLE	8,819,794^est.	Published
SOM	19,654,739^est.	Published
ZAF	64,747,319^est.	Published
SSD	12,188,788^est.	Published
TZA	70,545,865^est.	Published
TGO	8,591,626^est.	Published
UGA	51,384,894^est.	Published
ZMB	21,913,874^est.	Published
ZWE	16,950,795^est.	Published

Showing 48 of 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

How many people live in Sub-Saharan Africa?

1,271,176,146^* people in 2025, the sum of 48 of the 56 areas the United Nations lists in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is our own sum of the country figures in the table, which are modelled estimates. It is not a figure the World Bank publishes for Sub-Saharan Africa. Also not in the total, because this site holds no World Bank figure for them: British Indian Ocean Territory, Mayotte, French Southern Territories, Réunion, Saint Helena, Ascension. Listed by the United Nations as parts of a country it also lists whole, so inside that country's figure and not added again: United Republic of Tanzania (Mainland), United Republic of Tanzania (Zanzibar).

Regions within Sub-Saharan Africa

Eastern Africa (18 countries)
Middle Africa (9 countries)
Southern Africa (5 countries)
Western Africa (16 countries)

Latest published figures for Sub-Saharan Africa

Each figure is at its indicator's latest year. #1 is the highest in this region. Countries with an identical figure are marked joint and share a rank, and the next rank is skipped. A country with no figure has no rank.

Open the reference table for all five measures

Population, net migration, life expectancy, urban share and GDP per person for the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, with rank within the region
Country	Population2025	Net migration (people)2025	Life expectancy (years)2024	Urban share (%)2025	GDP per person (PPP, Int$)2025
Angola	39,040,039^est.#8	-3,524^est.#21	64.8^est.#23	71.5%^est.#5	10,251^est.#10
Benin	14,814,460^est.#24	-7,847^est.#29	61.0^est.#40	53.4%^est.#19	4,817^est.#23
Botswana	2,562,122^est.#38	-5,665^est.#25	69.3^est.#5	68.0%^est.#7	20,698^est.#4
Burkina Faso	24,074,580^est.#16	-27,130^est.#40	61.3^est.#39	28.9%^est.#41	3,072^est.#36
Burundi	14,390,003^est.#26	-34,727^est.#43	63.8^est.#30	25.7%^est.#44	1,248^est.#46
Cabo Verde	527,326^est.#46	-1,284^est.#14	76.2^est.#2	77.6%^est.#2	12,165^est.#8
Cameroon	29,879,337^est.#13	-15,379^est.#37	64.0^est.#26	55.7%^est.#16	5,788^est.#20
Central African Republic	5,513,282^est.#32	-14,693^est.#34	57.7^est.#46	44.6%^est.#27	1,314^est.#45
Chad	21,003,705^est.#19	-123,104^est.#48	55.2^est.#47	27.6%^est.#42	2,903^est.#37
Comoros	882,847^est.#45	-2,127^est.#16	67.0^est.#16	33.9%^est.#35	4,238^est.#26
Congo	6,484,437^est.#30	-2,999^est.#20	66.0^est.#21	64.1%^est.#9	7,248^est.#16
Côte d'Ivoire	32,711,547^est.#12	11,305^est.#4	62.1^est.#35	54.5%^est.#18	8,209^est.#14
Democratic Republic of the Congo	112,832,473^est.#3	-27,309^est.#41	62.1^est.#36	45.1%^est.#25	1,920^est.#41
Djibouti	1,184,076^est.#44	-581^est.#12	66.2^est.#19	73.0%^est.#3	8,452^est.#13
Equatorial Guinea	1,938,431^est.#41	3,812^est.#8	63.9^est.#27	71.6%^est.#4	16,133^est.#5
Eritrea	3,607,003^est.#34	-6,698^est.#27	68.9^est.#7	34.5%^est.#34	no figure published
Eswatini	1,256,174^est.#42	-5,775^est.#26	64.3^est.#24	26.7%^est.#43	12,529^est.#7
Ethiopia	135,472,051^est.#2	24,054^est.#2	67.6^est.#12	24.1%^est.#45	3,622^est.#31
Gabon	2,593,130^est.#37	1,116^est.#11	68.5^est.#9	92.1%^est.#1	22,218^est.#3
Gambia	2,822,093^est.#36	-2,984^est.#19	66.1^est.#20	65.0%^est.#8	3,706^est.#30
Ghana	35,064,272^est.#10	-17,079^est.#39	65.7^est.#22	58.9%^est.#13	8,610^est.#12
Guinea	15,099,727^est.#23	-16,282^est.#38	60.9^est.#41	38.5%^est.#31	4,935^est.#22
Guinea-Bissau	2,249,515^est.#40	-1,373^est.#15	64.3^est.#25	46.7%^est.#21	3,293^est.#34
Kenya	57,532,493^est.#6	-27,330^est.#42	63.8^est.#29	32.2%^est.#38	7,016^est.#17
Lesotho	2,363,325^est.#39	-5,192^est.#23	57.8^est.#44	44.7%^est.#26	3,184^est.#35
Liberia	5,731,206^est.#31	-9,870^est.#30	62.3^est.#34	56.1%^est.#14	1,981^est.#39
Madagascar	32,740,678^est.#11	-2,227^est.#17	63.8^est.#28	32.9%^est.#36	1,952^est.#40
Malawi	22,216,120^est.#17	-5,628^est.#24	67.6^est.#13	17.6%^est.#48	1,899^est.#42
Mali	25,198,821^est.#15	-48,019^est.#44	60.7^est.#42	32.2%^est.#37	3,503^est.#32
Mauritania	5,315,065^est.#33	-5,044^est.#22	68.7^est.#8	61.5%^est.#12	7,676^est.#15
Mauritius	1,243,741^est.#43	-2,784^est.#18	73.8^est.#3	39.0%^est.#30	33,667^est.#2
Mozambique	35,631,653^est.#9	-65,573^est.#46	63.8^est.#31	37.2%^est.#32	1,698^est.#43
Namibia	3,092,816^est.#35	1,866^est.#9	67.5^est.#14	50.9%^est.#20	11,986^est.#9
Niger	27,917,831^est.#14	-7,704^est.#28	61.4^est.#38	18.4%^est.#47	2,177^est.#38
Nigeria	237,527,782^est.#1	-15,258^est.#36	54.6^est.#48	63.8%^est.#11	9,532^est.#11
Rwanda	14,569,341^est.#25	6,282^est.#6	68.0^est.#11	30.9%^est.#40	4,164^est.#27
Senegal	18,931,966^est.#21	-12,636^est.#32	68.9^est.#6	55.8%^est.#15	5,463^est.#21
Seychelles	122,730^est.#48	1,590^est.#10	76.3^est.#1	45.5%^est.#24	35,854^est.#1
Sierra Leone	8,819,794^est.#28	-11,309^est.#31	62.0^est.#37	45.9%^est.#22	3,717^est.#29
Somalia	19,654,739^est.#20	12,077^est.#3	59.0^est.#43	55.1%^est.#17	1,643^est.#44
South Africa	64,747,319^est.#5	146,370^est.#1	66.3^est.#18	63.8%^est.#10	15,906^est.#6
South Sudan	12,188,788^est.#27	6,145^est.#7	57.7^est.#45	21.7%^est.#46	no figure published
São Tomé and Príncipe	240,254^est.#47	-650^est.#13	69.9^est.#4	69.2%^est.#6	6,388^est.#19
Tanzania	70,545,865^est.#4	-12,730^est.#33	67.2^est.#15	36.9%^est.#33	4,471^est.#24
Togo	8,591,626^est.#29	-15,010^est.#35	62.9^est.#33	44.4%^est.#28	4,079^est.#28
Uganda	51,384,894^est.#7	-119,059^est.#47	68.5^est.#10	31.9%^est.#39	3,488^est.#33
Zambia	21,913,874^est.#18	6,562^est.#5	66.5^est.#17	45.9%^est.#23	4,379^est.#25
Zimbabwe	16,950,795^est.#22	-54,555^est.#45	63.1^est.#32	40.5%^est.#29	6,470^est.#18

Highest and lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa

The member country with the highest and the lowest published figure for each indicator.

Highest and lowest country in Sub-Saharan Africa for each indicator
Indicator	Highest	Lowest
Population (2025)	Nigeria: 237,527,782^est.	Seychelles: 122,730^est.
Net migration (2025)	South Africa: 146,370^est.	Chad: -123,104^est.
Life expectancy (2024)	Seychelles: 76.3^est.	Nigeria: 54.6^est.
Urban share (2025)	Gabon: 92.1%^est.	Malawi: 17.6%^est.
GDP per person (2025)	Seychelles: 35,854^est.	Burundi: 1,248^est.

See these on the world map

What this data does not tell us

Every figure is a modelled or compiled estimate republished by the World Bank (quality class C, shown as "est."). It is not an official count by each country.
A country with no figure is shown as "no figure published" and drawn in its own grey. It is never counted as zero. In this table the source published no figure for: GDP per person (2 countries).
The latest year differs by indicator (2024 and 2025). Each indicator uses one year for every country, and a country with no figure in that year is not filled from an earlier one.
Net migration is a modelled residual of population change, not a count of migrants. It is a different measure from the citizenship and country-of-birth figures on the Cyprus pages, and the two are not to be added or compared.
Urban share uses each country's own definition of "urban". GDP per person is in current international dollars, so a ten-year change includes price rises.
Colours group countries into five bands of about equal size, from the lowest figures to the highest (see the legend). A shade shows which band a country is in, not how far apart two figures are.
Population is the only indicator that is added up, because it counts people. Life expectancy, urban share, GDP per person and net migration are shown country by country, with no total or average.
The World Bank figures for Cyprus on these pages are not comparable to the Eurostat and CYSTAT figures on the Cyprus pages, which are built differently. The two are never shown together.

Sources

Every figure comes from the World Bank — World Development Indicators, a reputable independent estimate (quality class C), not an official count by each country. Open a figure to see its own provenance.

Publisher, table, release and licence for all 5 datasets