Ghana vs Nigeria: Urban population

Urban population in 2025: 58.9% in Ghana and 63.8% in Nigeria, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Nigeria, by 4.9 percentage points, or 1.08 times that in Ghana.

Watch it change on the map

% of people · UN

GhanaNigeriaUN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025)

What the numbers say

Nigeria has been higher since 2005, when it overtook Ghana.
In 2025, Ghana ranked 139 and Nigeria ranked 119 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
The UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) puts Ghana at 73.4% and Nigeria at 83.4% in 2050.

Every year

% of people · UN

Year	Ghana	Nigeria
2025	58.9	63.8
2024	58.4	63
2023	57.8	62.2
2022	57.3	61.4
2021	56.7	60.6
2020	56.2	59.8
2019	55.7	59
2018	55.2	58.2
2017	54.7	57.4
2016	54.2	56.5
2015	53.6	55.7
2014	53.1	54.9
2013	52.5	54.1
2012	51.9	53.3
2011	51.3	52.5
2010	50.7	51.7
2009	50.1	50.9
2008	49.5	50.1
2007	48.8	49.2
2006	48.1	48.4
2005	47.5	47.6
2004	46.8	46.7
2003	46.1	45.8
2002	45.4	45
2001	44.6	44.1
2000	43.9	43.3
1999	43.2	42.4
1998	42.5	41.6
1997	41.7	40.8
1996	40.8	40
1995	40	39.1
1994	39.1	38.3
1993	38.2	37.5
1992	37.4	36.8
1991	36.6	36
1990	35.7	35.2
1989	35	34.4
1988	34.3	33.6
1987	33.6	32.8
1986	33	32.1
1985	32.5	31.3
1984	32.1	30.5
1983	31.8	29.7
1982	31.5	29
1981	31.2	28.2
1980	31	27.4
1979	30.8	26.7
1978	30.7	25.9
1977	30.5	25.2
1976	30.3	24.4
1975	30.2	23.7
1974	30	23
1973	29.8	22.3
1972	29.5	21.6
1971	29.3	20.9
1970	29	20.2
1969	28.7	19.6
1968	28.2	18.9
1967	27.7	18.3
1966	27.2	17.7
1965	26.6	17.1
1964	26	16.5
1963	25.3	15.9
1962	24.6	15.4
1961	24	14.8
1960	23.3	14.2
1959	22.6	13.7
1958	21.9	13.2
1957	21.1	12.7
1956	20.2	12.2
1955	19.3	11.7
1954	18.5	11.3
1953	17.6	11
1952	16.8	10.7
1951	16	10.4
1950	15.3	10.1

UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) · 2026–2050

Year	Ghana	Nigeria
2026	59.5	64.6
2027	60.1	65.4
2028	60.6	66.2
2029	61.2	67
2030	61.7	67.8
2031	62.3	68.6
2032	62.9	69.3
2033	63.5	70.1
2034	64	70.9
2035	64.6	71.7
2036	65.2	72.5
2037	65.7	73.3
2038	66.3	74.1
2039	66.9	74.9
2040	67.5	75.6
2041	68.1	76.4
2042	68.7	77.2
2043	69.2	78
2044	69.8	78.8
2045	70.4	79.5
2046	71	80.3
2047	71.6	81.1
2048	72.2	81.8
2049	72.8	82.6
2050	73.4	83.4

Each country on its own

Good to know

The share of people living in places the country itself counts as urban.
Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025.
The dashed line is the UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025), a scenario rather than a forecast.
Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Ghana vs Nigeria: Urban population

What the numbers say

Every year

Each country on its own

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