🇳🇬 Nigeria Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of Nigeria is 242,431,832, ranking #6 in the world (2.92% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 2.03% per year. The biggest city is Lagos with 15,388,000 inhabitants.

Live estimate

242,517,782

Growth rate

2.03%

Density

266

people / km² (689 / mi²)

Median age

18.3

Fertility rate

4.20

births per woman

Life expectancy

55.0

years

Nigeria population 1950–2100

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

By 2050, the population of Nigeria is projected to reach 359,185,556, and 476,747,781 by 2100.

Nigeria population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	242,431,832	2.03%	266.2	18.3
2025	237,527,782	2.06%	260.8	18.1
2024	232,679,478	2.07%	255.5	17.9
2023	227,882,945	2.10%	250.2	17.8
2022	223,150,896	2.10%	245.0	17.6
2021	218,529,286	2.08%	239.9	17.4
2020	213,996,181	2.11%	235.0	17.2
2019	209,485,641	2.15%	230.0	17.1
2018	204,938,755	2.24%	225.0	16.9
2017	200,254,578	2.39%	219.9	16.8
2016	195,443,700	2.48%	214.6	16.7
2015	190,671,878	2.47%	209.4	16.7
2014	185,896,915	2.60%	204.1	16.6
2013	181,049,443	2.68%	198.8	16.6
2012	176,200,624	2.75%	193.5	16.6
2011	171,379,598	2.80%	188.2	16.6
2010	166,642,886	2.81%	183.0	16.7
2009	162,049,464	2.78%	177.9	16.7
2008	157,595,014	2.79%	173.0	16.7
2007	153,267,261	2.78%	168.3	16.8
2006	149,077,334	2.77%	163.7	16.8
2005	145,017,254	2.76%	159.2	16.8
2004	141,057,045	2.78%	154.9	16.9
2003	137,202,644	2.76%	150.6	16.9
2002	133,471,988	2.75%	146.5	16.9
2001	129,862,595	2.73%	142.6	16.9
2000	126,382,494	2.70%	138.8	16.8
1999	123,047,320	2.64%	135.1	16.8
1998	119,846,254	2.63%	131.6	16.7
1997	116,754,792	2.60%	128.2	16.6
1996	113,754,778	2.61%	124.9	16.5
1995	110,819,428	2.62%	121.7	16.5
1994	107,935,714	2.65%	118.5	16.4
1993	105,122,069	2.63%	115.4	16.3
1992	102,372,770	2.67%	112.4	16.2
1991	99,720,162	2.58%	109.5	16.2
1990	97,120,925	2.71%	106.6	16.2
1989	94,531,014	2.70%	103.8	16.1
1988	92,020,090	2.68%	101.0	16.1
1987	89,591,716	2.66%	98.4	16.1
1986	87,235,953	2.67%	95.8	16.2
1985	84,897,973	2.77%	93.2	16.2
1984	82,526,443	2.90%	90.6	16.3
1983	80,438,260	2.22%	88.3	16.4
1982	78,378,701	2.98%	86.1	16.5
1981	76,068,103	3.01%	83.5	16.6
1980	73,764,641	3.15%	81.0	16.7
1979	71,498,242	3.10%	78.5	16.8
1978	69,326,532	3.07%	76.1	16.9
1977	67,234,590	3.05%	73.8	17.1
1976	65,258,009	2.91%	71.7	17.2
1975	63,410,815	2.83%	69.6	17.3
1974	61,679,144	2.71%	67.7	17.4
1973	60,082,139	2.54%	66.0	17.5
1972	58,601,748	2.45%	64.3	17.7
1971	57,214,684	2.34%	62.8	17.8
1970	55,893,838	2.33%	61.4	17.9
1969	54,631,914	2.23%	60.0	18.0
1968	53,432,783	2.21%	58.7	18.1
1967	52,293,064	2.11%	57.4	18.2
1966	51,188,234	2.17%	56.2	18.3
1965	50,086,764	2.19%	55.0	18.3
1964	49,012,016	2.15%	53.8	18.3
1963	47,973,575	2.13%	52.7	18.3
1962	46,965,292	2.12%	51.6	18.3
1961	45,989,310	2.08%	50.5	18.3
1960	45,053,782	2.03%	49.5	18.3
1959	44,161,681	1.97%	48.5	18.3
1958	43,324,646	1.85%	47.6	18.3
1957	42,517,476	1.91%	46.7	18.3
1956	41,716,055	1.90%	45.8	18.2
1955	40,935,634	1.88%	44.9	18.2
1954	40,176,324	1.87%	44.1	18.2
1953	39,439,820	1.83%	43.3	18.2
1952	38,716,202	1.87%	42.5	18.2
1951	37,994,077	1.90%	41.7	18.1
1950	37,283,010	1.88%	40.9	18.1

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	247,374,263	2.00%	271.6	18.6
2028	252,346,128	1.98%	277.1	18.8
2029	257,352,638	1.95%	282.6	19.0
2030	262,380,970	1.92%	288.1	19.3
2031	267,421,074	1.89%	293.6	19.5
2032	272,483,642	1.86%	299.2	19.7
2033	277,555,115	1.83%	304.7	20.0
2034	282,622,397	1.79%	310.3	20.2
2035	287,685,763	1.76%	315.9	20.5
2036	292,739,396	1.72%	321.4	20.7
2037	297,773,244	1.69%	326.9	21.0
2038	302,782,358	1.65%	332.4	21.2
2039	307,764,756	1.61%	337.9	21.4
2040	312,710,416	1.57%	343.3	21.7
2041	317,607,244	1.53%	348.7	21.9
2042	322,450,309	1.49%	354.0	22.1
2043	327,243,939	1.46%	359.3	22.3
2044	331,983,358	1.42%	364.5	22.5
2045	336,662,502	1.38%	369.6	22.7
2046	341,281,763	1.34%	374.7	23.0
2047	345,844,009	1.31%	379.7	23.2
2048	350,347,769	1.28%	384.7	23.4
2049	354,792,425	1.25%	389.6	23.7
2050	359,185,556	1.22%	394.4	23.9
2051	363,523,611	1.19%	399.1	24.1
2052	367,803,706	1.16%	403.8	24.4
2053	372,023,922	1.13%	408.5	24.6
2054	376,177,420	1.09%	413.0	24.8
2055	380,268,493	1.07%	417.5	25.1
2056	384,300,680	1.04%	422.0	25.3
2057	388,268,096	1.01%	426.3	25.6
2058	392,170,714	0.99%	430.6	25.8
2059	396,009,372	0.96%	434.8	26.1
2060	399,785,267	0.94%	439.0	26.3
2061	403,501,394	0.91%	443.0	26.6
2062	407,149,193	0.89%	447.0	26.8
2063	410,725,691	0.86%	451.0	27.1
2064	414,232,572	0.84%	454.8	27.3
2065	417,659,131	0.81%	458.6	27.5
2066	420,998,046	0.78%	462.2	27.8
2067	424,256,028	0.76%	465.8	28.0
2068	427,425,878	0.73%	469.3	28.3
2069	430,503,484	0.70%	472.7	28.5
2070	433,485,694	0.68%	476.0	28.8
2071	436,373,280	0.65%	479.1	29.0
2072	439,170,599	0.63%	482.2	29.2
2073	441,867,332	0.60%	485.2	29.5
2074	444,465,529	0.57%	488.0	29.7
2075	446,969,593	0.55%	490.8	29.9
2076	449,370,432	0.52%	493.4	30.1
2077	451,660,302	0.49%	495.9	30.3
2078	453,850,397	0.47%	498.3	30.5
2079	455,942,795	0.45%	500.6	30.8
2080	457,921,590	0.42%	502.8	31.0
2081	459,785,704	0.39%	504.8	31.2
2082	461,539,632	0.37%	506.8	31.4
2083	463,189,387	0.35%	508.6	31.5
2084	464,743,616	0.32%	510.3	31.7
2085	466,191,503	0.30%	511.9	31.9
2086	467,531,292	0.28%	513.3	32.1
2087	468,768,175	0.25%	514.7	32.3
2088	469,901,801	0.23%	515.9	32.4
2089	470,940,052	0.21%	517.1	32.6
2090	471,885,519	0.19%	518.1	32.8
2091	472,741,816	0.17%	519.1	32.9
2092	473,500,176	0.15%	519.9	33.1
2093	474,160,897	0.13%	520.6	33.3
2094	474,739,497	0.11%	521.3	33.4
2095	475,247,942	0.10%	521.8	33.6
2096	475,693,113	0.09%	522.3	33.7
2097	476,068,925	0.07%	522.7	33.9
2098	476,375,126	0.06%	523.0	34.0
2099	476,601,904	0.04%	523.3	34.1
2100	476,747,781	0.02%	523.5	34.3

States & provinces of Nigeria by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Kano	15,462,200	6.4%
2	Lagos	13,491,800	5.6%
3	Katsina	10,368,500	4.3%
4	Rivers	9,898,470	4.1%
5	Kaduna	9,032,200	3.7%
6	Bauchi	8,308,800	3.4%
7	Oyo	7,976,100	3.3%
8	Delta	7,840,000	3.2%
9	Jigawa	7,499,100	3.1%
10	Anambra	6,953,500	2.9%
11	Niger	6,783,300	2.8%
12	Sokoto	6,391,000	2.6%
13	Ogun	6,379,500	2.6%
14	Benue	6,141,300	2.5%
15	Borno	6,111,500	2.5%
16	Zamfara	5,833,500	2.4%
17	Kebbi	5,563,900	2.3%
18	Imo	5,459,300	2.3%
19	Akwa Ibom	5,450,758	2.2%
20	Ondo	5,316,600	2.2%
21	Edo	5,250,000	2.2%
22	Adamawa	4,902,100	2.0%
23	Plateau	4,717,300	1.9%
24	Enugu	4,690,100	1.9%
25	Kogi	4,466,800	1.8%
26	Osun	4,435,800	1.8%
27	Cross River	4,406,200	1.8%
28	Abia	4,143,100	1.7%
29	Gombe	3,960,100	1.6%
30	Bayelsa	3,724,225	1.5%
31	Yobe	3,649,600	1.5%
32	Taraba	3,609,800	1.5%
33	Ekiti	3,592,200	1.5%
34	Kwara	3,551,000	1.5%
35	Ebonyi	3,242,500	1.3%
36	Nassarawa	2,886,000	1.2%
37	Federal Capital Territory	1,405,201	0.6%

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

Biggest cities in Nigeria

#	City	Region	Population
1	Lagos	Lagos	15,388,000
2	Kano	Kano State	4,910,000
3	Ibadan	Oyo State	3,649,000
4	Abuja capital	FCT	2,690,000
5	Port Harcourt	Rivers State	2,120,000
6	Kaduna	Kaduna State	1,850,000
7	Benin City	Edo State	1,782,000
8	Onitsha	Anambra	1,553,000
9	Aba	Abia State	1,160,000
10	Maiduguri	Borno State	1,110,000
11	Ilorin	Kwara State	1,080,000
12	Sokoto	Sokoto	1,040,000
13	Jos	Plateau State	1,040,000
14	Zaria	Kaduna State	980,000
15	Enugu	Enugu State	950,000

FAQ

What is the population of Nigeria in 2026?

The population of Nigeria is 242,431,832 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in Nigeria?

Lagos is the biggest city in Nigeria with 15,388,000 inhabitants; the capital is Abuja.

Is the population of Nigeria growing or shrinking?

The population of Nigeria is growing at 2.03% per year.

Neighboring countries

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-06.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-06.

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