Nigeria vs Zambia: Population growth

Population growth in 2023: 2.1% a year in Nigeria and 2.83% a year in Zambia, by UN estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Zambia, by 0.74 percentage points, or 1.35 times that in Nigeria.

NigeriaZambia

Watch it change on the map

% a year · UN

All years Since 1990 Since 2010

Values Change

LinearLog

World Projection

NigeriaZambiaUN projection (medium variant)95% prediction intervalWorld

Latest figures

% a year · UN

Country	Latest	10 years before	Rank in 2023	Projected
Nigeria	2.1 2023	2.68	46 of 229	0.02 2100
Zambia	2.83 2023	3.2	17 of 229	0.52 2100
World	0.87 2023	1.23		-0.13 2100

What the numbers say

Zambia has been higher since 1999, when it overtook Nigeria.
In 2023, Nigeria ranked 46 and Zambia ranked 17 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
The UN projection (medium variant) puts Nigeria at 0.02% a year and Zambia at 0.52% a year in 2100.
The world as a whole: 0.87% a year in 2023.

Every year

% a year · UN

Year	Nigeria	Zambia	World
2023	2.1	2.83	0.87
2022	2.1	2.75	0.88
2021	2.09	2.77	0.8
2020	2.11	2.86	0.9
2019	2.15	2.95	1.03
2018	2.24	2.97	1.07
2017	2.39	3.04	1.13
2016	2.48	3.1	1.17
2015	2.47	3.09	1.18
2014	2.61	3.15	1.22
2013	2.68	3.2	1.23
2012	2.75	3.21	1.27
2011	2.8	3.28	1.26
2010	2.81	3.37	1.27
2009	2.78	3.55	1.28
2008	2.79	3.52	1.28
2007	2.78	3.61	1.28
2006	2.77	3.44	1.28
2005	2.76	3.45	1.27
2004	2.78	3.15	1.28
2003	2.76	3.21	1.29
2002	2.76	3	1.3
2001	2.73	3.16	1.33
2000	2.7	2.88	1.35
1999	2.64	2.74	1.35
1998	2.63	2.62	1.37
1997	2.6	2.62	1.39
1996	2.61	2.49	1.42
1995	2.62	2.42	1.45
1994	2.65	2.41	1.47
1993	2.63	2.37	1.52
1992	2.67	2.4	1.57
1991	2.58	2.43	1.63
1990	2.71	2.53	1.76
1989	2.7	2.59	1.78
1988	2.68	2.69	1.79
1987	2.66	2.8	1.84
1986	2.67	2.98	1.83
1985	2.77	2.99	1.8
1984	2.9	3.01	1.8
1983	2.22	3.15	1.78
1982	2.98	3.3	1.86
1981	3.01	3.12	1.82
1980	3.15	3	1.8
1979	3.1	2.98	1.79
1978	3.07	3.01	1.74
1977	3.05	3.04	1.75
1976	2.91	3.04	1.78
1975	2.83	3.03	1.8
1974	2.71	2.96	1.88
1973	2.54	2.91	1.94
1972	2.45	2.85	1.97
1971	2.34	2.78	1.97
1970	2.33	2.73	2.06
1969	2.23	3.13	2.06
1968	2.21	3.24	2.09
1967	2.11	3.22	2
1966	2.17	3.2	2.04
1965	2.19	3.19	2.09
1964	2.15	3.14	2.16
1963	2.13	3.17	2.28
1962	2.12	3.15	2.11
1961	2.08	3.14	1.67
1960	2.03	3.12	1.58
1959	1.97	3.11	1.73
1958	1.85	3.09	2
1957	1.91	3.07	2.07
1956	1.9	3.06	1.98
1955	1.88	3.05	2.01
1954	1.87	3.05	1.99
1953	1.83	3.05	1.9
1952	1.87	3.04	1.94
1951	1.9	3.04	1.75
1950	1.88	3.07	1.74

UN projection (medium variant) · 2024–2100

Year	Nigeria	Zambia	World
2024	2.071.49–2.63	2.791.94–3.51	0.86
2025	2.061.38–2.67	2.751.87–3.51	0.84
2026	2.031.31–2.68	2.721.77–3.52	0.83
2027	21.22–2.7	2.681.7–3.49	0.81
2028	1.981.14–2.71	2.631.61–3.51	0.8
2029	1.951.06–2.75	2.591.52–3.45	0.78
2030	1.921–2.78	2.551.49–3.45	0.76
2031	1.890.97–2.76	2.511.37–3.45	0.75
2032	1.860.89–2.79	2.461.31–3.41	0.73
2033	1.830.83–2.78	2.411.22–3.41	0.72
2034	1.790.8–2.79	2.371.19–3.4	0.7
2035	1.760.76–2.82	2.331.12–3.39	0.69
2036	1.720.72–2.81	2.281.07–3.34	0.67
2037	1.690.67–2.77	2.221.04–3.34	0.65
2038	1.650.63–2.72	2.170.95–3.32	0.64
2039	1.610.63–2.72	2.120.89–3.3	0.62
2040	1.580.63–2.68	2.080.85–3.28	0.61
2041	1.530.55–2.62	2.030.76–3.26	0.59
2042	1.490.55–2.64	1.990.78–3.26	0.57
2043	1.460.51–2.62	1.960.7–3.25	0.56
2044	1.420.46–2.58	1.920.67–3.26	0.54
2045	1.380.4–2.52	1.880.62–3.22	0.52
2046	1.350.38–2.47	1.850.61–3.23	0.5
2047	1.310.35–2.47	1.810.53–3.19	0.48
2048	1.280.31–2.41	1.780.48–3.16	0.46
2049	1.250.3–2.41	1.740.45–3.14	0.44
2050	1.220.24–2.4	1.70.39–3.12	0.42
2051	1.190.18–2.39	1.670.36–3.13	0.4
2052	1.160.18–2.43	1.630.31–3.14	0.38
2053	1.130.17–2.44	1.60.24–3.11	0.36
2054	1.10.11–2.44	1.580.23–3.13	0.34
2055	1.070.09–2.41	1.550.22–3.08	0.33
2056	1.040.02–2.39	1.520.16–3.1	0.31
2057	1.01-0.02–2.4	1.490.11–3.01	0.3
2058	0.99-0.03–2.39	1.470.07–3.02	0.28
2059	0.96-0.06–2.41	1.440.05–3.03	0.27
2060	0.94-0.07–2.39	1.420.05–3.01	0.25
2061	0.91-0.07–2.37	1.38-0.04–3	0.24
2062	0.89-0.12–2.37	1.36-0.11–2.94	0.23
2063	0.86-0.16–2.35	1.32-0.11–2.94	0.22
2064	0.84-0.2–2.35	1.3-0.15–2.95	0.21
2065	0.81-0.23–2.28	1.27-0.2–2.97	0.2
2066	0.78-0.27–2.29	1.24-0.27–2.94	0.19
2067	0.76-0.3–2.28	1.22-0.22–2.98	0.18
2068	0.73-0.31–2.26	1.19-0.26–2.98	0.17
2069	0.71-0.35–2.25	1.18-0.29–2.97	0.16
2070	0.68-0.39–2.21	1.15-0.31–2.93	0.15
2071	0.65-0.4–2.19	1.12-0.32–2.89	0.14
2072	0.63-0.45–2.14	1.1-0.38–2.86	0.13
2073	0.6-0.44–2.08	1.08-0.4–2.89	0.12
2074	0.57-0.48–2.11	1.05-0.45–2.87	0.1
2075	0.55-0.56–2.08	1.03-0.52–2.78	0.09
2076	0.52-0.65–2.02	1-0.55–2.78	0.08
2077	0.5-0.65–2.02	0.98-0.62–2.77	0.07
2078	0.47-0.68–1.94	0.96-0.61–2.81	0.06
2079	0.45-0.71–1.93	0.93-0.66–2.79	0.05
2080	0.42-0.74–1.92	0.92-0.7–2.82	0.04
2081	0.39-0.8–1.88	0.89-0.72–2.8	0.03
2082	0.37-0.84–1.92	0.87-0.78–2.84	0.02
2083	0.35-0.85–1.94	0.85-0.83–2.81	0.01
2084	0.32-0.89–1.92	0.83-0.87–2.81	-0
2085	0.3-0.93–1.93	0.8-0.89–2.84	-0.01
2086	0.28-0.94–1.9	0.79-0.89–2.84	-0.02
2087	0.25-1–1.88	0.77-0.98–2.82	-0.03
2088	0.23-1.06–1.85	0.73-1.07–2.78	-0.04
2089	0.21-1.12–1.84	0.72-1.08–2.78	-0.05
2090	0.19-1.12–1.86	0.7-1.15–2.75	-0.05
2091	0.17-1.16–1.88	0.69-1.16–2.75	-0.06
2092	0.15-1.19–1.82	0.66-1.22–2.79	-0.07
2093	0.13-1.24–1.86	0.64-1.23–2.76	-0.07
2094	0.11-1.29–1.79	0.63-1.31–2.7	-0.08
2095	0.1-1.32–1.82	0.6-1.33–2.74	-0.09
2096	0.09-1.35–1.79	0.58-1.34–2.72	-0.1
2097	0.07-1.35–1.8	0.57-1.36–2.73	-0.11
2098	0.06-1.35–1.8	0.55-1.41–2.69	-0.11
2099	0.04-1.35–1.79	0.53-1.51–2.67	-0.12
2100	0.02-1.36–1.8	0.52-1.5–2.67	-0.13

Each country on its own

Good to know

How fast the population grew or shrank in a year: births minus deaths, plus people moving in minus people moving out.
Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024.
The dashed line is the UN projection (medium variant), a scenario rather than a forecast; the band is its 95% prediction interval.
Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2023, highest first.
The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

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