Search results
As of 2019, the total population of Africa is estimated at 1.3 billion, representing 16 percent of the world's population. According to UN estimates, the population of Africa may reach 2.49 billion by 2050 (about 26% of the world's total) and 4.28 billion by 2100 (about 39% of the world's total).
Currently, 44.7 % of the population of Africa is urban (652,206,412 people in 2023) Population Density The 2023 population density in Africa is 49 people per Km 2 (128 people per mi 2 ), calculated on a total land area of 29,648,481 Km2 (11,447,338 sq. miles).
Mar 28, 2024 · Rapid population growth, high fertility rates, low median age, increasing life expectancy, large households, and widespread poverty are the main features of Africa's demographics.
- Overview
- Demographic patterns
Africa has the most rapidly expanding population of any region in the world, even though the continent’s birth and death rates are also the world’s highest. There was some decline in overall death rates in the latter half of the 20th century, but infant and child mortality rates remained high, and average life expectancy at birth actually declined somewhat during the 1990s. On average, Africa’s population is increasing at about 3 percent per annum, and that growth rate is associated with an increasingly youthful population: in nearly every African country more than two-fifths of the population is younger than 15 years of age.
The great majority of the working population is still engaged in subsistence agriculture and in the production of cash crops. In most countries the proportion of the total population dependent on agriculture is at least three-fifths.
The remainder of the working population is divided mainly between a rapidly growing service sector (including civil servants, members of the armed forces, police, teachers, health workers, and those engaged in commerce and communications) and an increasing number of mining and industrial projects; in only a few countries, however, do those latter activities employ more than one-tenth of the workforce. Underemployment, particularly in the agricultural sector, is widespread, and unemployment has risen, especially in urban areas.
Participation in labour by women varies considerably from country to country. There are generally fewer women in paid employment than men, though a large proportion of women in sub-Saharan countries are engaged in subsistence agriculture—if only part of the time. Women are also employed in the civil service, trading (especially in western Africa), domestic service, and to an increasing extent in light industry.
Africa has the most rapidly expanding population of any region in the world, even though the continent’s birth and death rates are also the world’s highest. There was some decline in overall death rates in the latter half of the 20th century, but infant and child mortality rates remained high, and average life expectancy at birth actually declined somewhat during the 1990s. On average, Africa’s population is increasing at about 3 percent per annum, and that growth rate is associated with an increasingly youthful population: in nearly every African country more than two-fifths of the population is younger than 15 years of age.
The great majority of the working population is still engaged in subsistence agriculture and in the production of cash crops. In most countries the proportion of the total population dependent on agriculture is at least three-fifths.
The remainder of the working population is divided mainly between a rapidly growing service sector (including civil servants, members of the armed forces, police, teachers, health workers, and those engaged in commerce and communications) and an increasing number of mining and industrial projects; in only a few countries, however, do those latter activities employ more than one-tenth of the workforce. Underemployment, particularly in the agricultural sector, is widespread, and unemployment has risen, especially in urban areas.
Participation in labour by women varies considerably from country to country. There are generally fewer women in paid employment than men, though a large proportion of women in sub-Saharan countries are engaged in subsistence agriculture—if only part of the time. Women are also employed in the civil service, trading (especially in western Africa), domestic service, and to an increasing extent in light industry.
Africa Population: current, historical, and projected population, growth rate, immigration, median age, total fertility rate (TFR), population density, urbanization, urban population, country's share of world population, and global rank. Data tables, maps, charts, and live population clock.
DateAfrica Population20231,460,481,77220221,426,736,30520211,393,676,44420201,360,677,231Africa currently has a very low population density of about 65 people per square mile, which puts it behind Asia, Europe, and South America. The population of Africa is currently projected to quadruple in just 90 years, with a growth rate that will make Africa more important than ever to the global economy.
The 2022 Revision of World Population Prospects is the twenty-seventh edition of official United Nations population estimates and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of...
