Africa’s population passed 1.58 billion in 2026 — and unlike most of the world, it’s still accelerating¹. The UN’s medium-variant projection puts the continent at 2.47 billion people by 2050¹: nearly 900 million more people in 24 years, more than twice the current population of the United States.

Where the growth is coming from

Almost all of it is concentrated in a handful of countries. Of the eight countries expected to drive more than half of the world’s population growth between now and 2050, five are in Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania¹. Fertility is falling — from 3.9 children per woman today to a projected 2.8 by 2050¹ — but it’s falling from a much higher starting point than the rest of the world, which is why the growth keeps compounding.

The world’s youngest continent, getting (slightly) older

Half of Africa’s population is under 19 today, the youngest median age of any continent by more than a decade¹. By 2050 that’s projected to rise to 25.4¹ — still young by global standards, but a shift toward a larger working-age share of the population. Whether that becomes an economic dividend or a strain on jobs, schools, and infrastructure depends less on the demographics themselves than on the investment made in the people behind them.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is projected to become one of the most populous nations on Earth by mid-century.