🇨🇩 DR Congo Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of DR Congo is 116,452,162, ranking #15 in the world (1.40% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 3.13% per year. The biggest city is Kinshasa with 16,000,000 inhabitants.

Live estimate

116,537,823

Growth rate

3.13%

Density

people / km² (133 / mi²)

Median age

15.9

Fertility rate

5.80

births per woman

Life expectancy

62.4

years

DR Congo population 1950–2100

Population of DR Congo, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of DR Congo is projected to reach 218,246,072, and 430,709,445 by 2100.

DR Congo population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	116,452,162	3.13%	51.4	15.9
2025	112,832,473	3.18%	49.8	15.8
2024	109,276,265	3.22%	48.2	15.8
2023	105,789,731	3.26%	46.7	15.8
2022	102,396,968	3.25%	45.2	15.8
2021	99,148,932	3.19%	43.7	15.8
2020	95,989,998	3.29%	42.3	15.8
2019	92,947,442	3.15%	41.0	15.8
2018	90,047,644	3.19%	39.7	15.9
2017	87,083,398	3.51%	38.4	15.9
2016	83,956,415	3.81%	37.0	15.8
2015	81,035,531	3.27%	35.7	15.8
2014	78,403,242	3.34%	34.6	15.8
2013	75,789,395	3.44%	33.4	15.8
2012	73,254,618	3.36%	32.3	15.8
2011	70,849,311	3.32%	31.3	15.7
2010	68,563,038	3.24%	30.2	15.7
2009	66,412,044	3.13%	29.3	15.8
2008	64,390,664	3.05%	28.4	15.8
2007	62,477,752	2.98%	27.6	15.8
2006	60,615,908	3.07%	26.7	15.9
2005	58,775,724	3.10%	25.9	15.9
2004	56,997,741	3.04%	25.1	15.9
2003	55,343,867	2.84%	24.4	15.9
2002	53,750,524	3.00%	23.7	16.0
2001	52,132,646	3.11%	23.0	16.0
2000	50,507,442	3.23%	22.3	16.0
1999	48,912,971	3.19%	21.6	16.1
1998	47,297,600	3.53%	20.9	16.1
1997	46,029,902	1.88%	20.3	16.2
1996	45,296,124	1.33%	20.0	16.6
1995	44,433,704	2.52%	19.6	17.0
1994	42,626,876	5.85%	18.8	16.9
1993	40,656,336	3.56%	17.9	16.7
1992	39,228,910	3.58%	17.3	16.7
1991	37,925,817	3.17%	16.7	16.7
1990	36,684,063	3.50%	16.2	16.7
1989	35,486,866	3.13%	15.7	16.7
1988	34,382,752	3.19%	15.2	16.8
1987	33,298,904	3.22%	14.7	16.8
1986	32,265,196	3.09%	14.2	16.8
1985	31,264,816	3.21%	13.8	16.8
1984	30,245,081	3.42%	13.3	16.8
1983	29,250,963	3.26%	12.9	16.7
1982	28,338,190	3.08%	12.5	16.7
1981	27,500,515	2.92%	12.1	16.7
1980	26,711,098	2.90%	11.8	16.8
1979	25,886,782	3.37%	11.4	16.8
1978	24,992,689	3.66%	11.0	16.7
1977	24,229,061	2.53%	10.7	16.6
1976	23,624,031	2.53%	10.4	16.7
1975	23,021,101	2.64%	10.2	16.8
1974	22,418,878	2.66%	9.9	16.9
1973	21,827,665	2.68%	9.6	17.0
1972	21,251,160	2.67%	9.4	17.1
1971	20,695,569	2.63%	9.1	17.2
1970	20,137,436	2.84%	8.9	17.3
1969	19,570,445	2.87%	8.6	17.4
1968	19,012,189	2.92%	8.4	17.5
1967	18,462,782	2.95%	8.1	17.5
1966	17,931,929	2.89%	7.9	17.5
1965	17,427,802	2.81%	7.7	17.5
1964	16,955,327	2.68%	7.5	17.4
1963	16,507,598	2.67%	7.3	17.4
1962	16,075,724	2.63%	7.1	17.4
1961	15,662,374	2.58%	6.9	17.3
1960	15,264,846	2.56%	6.7	17.3
1959	14,891,582	2.39%	6.6	17.2
1958	14,557,796	2.15%	6.4	17.2
1957	14,242,278	2.24%	6.3	17.2
1956	13,929,951	2.20%	6.1	17.2
1955	13,630,351	2.15%	6.0	17.2
1954	13,343,031	2.11%	5.9	17.2
1953	13,069,450	2.03%	5.8	17.2
1952	12,803,640	2.08%	5.6	17.1
1951	12,542,644	2.04%	5.5	17.1
1950	12,294,287	1.96%	5.4	17.1

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	120,129,746	3.09%	53.0	15.9
2028	123,871,549	3.05%	54.6	16.0
2029	127,674,140	3.00%	56.3	16.1
2030	131,532,201	2.96%	58.0	16.2
2031	135,447,495	2.91%	59.7	16.3
2032	139,408,612	2.85%	61.5	16.4
2033	143,414,030	2.81%	63.3	16.6
2034	147,468,136	2.76%	65.0	16.7
2035	151,560,102	2.71%	66.9	16.9
2036	155,689,455	2.67%	68.7	17.0
2037	159,848,576	2.61%	70.5	17.2
2038	164,045,610	2.58%	72.4	17.4
2039	168,296,695	2.54%	74.2	17.6
2040	172,595,582	2.50%	76.1	17.8
2041	176,946,263	2.48%	78.1	18.0
2042	181,350,405	2.44%	80.0	18.2
2043	185,805,164	2.41%	82.0	18.5
2044	190,312,002	2.38%	83.9	18.7
2045	194,865,379	2.35%	86.0	18.9
2046	199,464,484	2.32%	88.0	19.1
2047	204,105,927	2.28%	90.0	19.3
2048	208,783,694	2.25%	92.1	19.6
2049	213,497,692	2.22%	94.2	19.8
2050	218,246,072	2.18%	96.3	20.0
2051	223,027,957	2.15%	98.4	20.2
2052	227,837,014	2.12%	100.5	20.5
2053	232,664,917	2.08%	102.6	20.7
2054	237,508,266	2.04%	104.8	20.9
2055	242,361,218	2.00%	106.9	21.1
2056	247,217,774	1.97%	109.0	21.4
2057	252,076,411	1.93%	111.2	21.6
2058	256,940,360	1.90%	113.3	21.8
2059	261,810,598	1.86%	115.5	22.0
2060	266,679,134	1.82%	117.6	22.3
2061	271,539,699	1.79%	119.8	22.5
2062	276,386,349	1.75%	121.9	22.7
2063	281,214,645	1.71%	124.0	23.0
2064	286,020,052	1.68%	126.2	23.2
2065	290,802,814	1.64%	128.3	23.4
2066	295,566,363	1.61%	130.4	23.7
2067	300,307,025	1.57%	132.5	23.9
2068	305,024,362	1.54%	134.5	24.1
2069	309,717,274	1.51%	136.6	24.4
2070	314,382,310	1.48%	138.7	24.6
2071	319,008,024	1.44%	140.7	24.9
2072	323,597,049	1.42%	142.7	25.1
2073	328,151,396	1.38%	144.7	25.4
2074	332,668,933	1.35%	146.7	25.6
2075	337,148,986	1.32%	148.7	25.9
2076	341,591,956	1.30%	150.7	26.1
2077	345,997,829	1.27%	152.6	26.4
2078	350,356,778	1.24%	154.5	26.6
2079	354,663,932	1.21%	156.4	26.9
2080	358,920,647	1.18%	158.3	27.1
2081	363,127,572	1.15%	160.2	27.4
2082	367,286,366	1.13%	162.0	27.6
2083	371,405,058	1.10%	163.8	27.9
2084	375,476,384	1.08%	165.6	28.1
2085	379,483,691	1.05%	167.4	28.4
2086	383,424,209	1.02%	169.1	28.6
2087	387,295,720	0.99%	170.8	28.8
2088	391,094,836	0.96%	172.5	29.1
2089	394,825,388	0.94%	174.2	29.3
2090	398,480,921	0.91%	175.8	29.6
2091	402,059,257	0.88%	177.3	29.8
2092	405,554,504	0.85%	178.9	30.0
2093	408,970,520	0.83%	180.4	30.2
2094	412,322,023	0.81%	181.9	30.5
2095	415,597,743	0.78%	183.3	30.7
2096	418,781,543	0.75%	184.7	30.9
2097	421,876,805	0.72%	186.1	31.1
2098	424,898,159	0.70%	187.4	31.4
2099	427,842,825	0.68%	188.7	31.6
2100	430,709,445	0.66%	190.0	31.8

States & provinces of DR Congo by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Équateur	7,500,000	6.4%
2	Kasaï-Oriental	6,500,000	5.6%
3	Nord-Kivu	4,908,824	4.2%
4	Sud-Kivu	3,909,135	3.4%
5	Bas-Congo	3,802,736	3.3%
6	Maniema	1,718,257	1.5%
7	Kinshasa City	164,857	0.1%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in DR Congo

#	City	Region	Population
1	Kinshasa capital	Kinshasa	16,000,000
2	Lubumbashi	Haut-Katanga	2,221,925
3	Mbuji-Mayi	East Kasai	2,101,332
4	Kananga	Kasai-Central	1,247,168
5	Kisangani	Tshopo	1,181,788
6	Bukavu	South Kivu	816,811
7	Kolwezi	Lualaba	790,248
8	Likasi	Haut-Katanga	635,768
9	Tshikapa	Kasai	634,529
10	Kikwit	Kwilu	509,367
11	Masina	Kinshasa	485,167
12	Mbandaka	Équateur	455,011
13	Goma	North Kivu	432,587
14	Matadi	Bas-Congo	425,662
15	Uvira	South Kivu	407,092

FAQ

What is the population of DR Congo in 2026?

The population of DR Congo is 116,452,162 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in DR Congo?

Kinshasa is the biggest city in DR Congo with 16,000,000 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of DR Congo growing or shrinking?

The population of DR Congo is growing at 3.13% per year.

Neighboring countries

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-07.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-07.

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