Compare
Nigeria vs Zambia
How Nigeria and Zambia compare on 38 measures, from 1820 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Zambia was higher: 66.4 years against 54.5 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Nigeria was higher: $2,369 against $1,356
- Population · In 2023, Nigeria was higher: 228 million people against 20.7 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Zambia was higher: 1.26% of GDP against 0.91% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, Nigeria was higher: 0.57 tonnes against 0.54 tonnes
Life expectancy →NigeriaZambiaUN projection (medium variant)95% prediction intervalWorld
Change since 1950, years · UN
Every measure
NigeriaZambia
| Measure | Nigeria | Zambia | Over the years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | |||
| Life expectancyyears · 2023 | 54.5 | 66.4 | |
| Child mortalitydeaths before age 5 per 100 live births · 2024 | 11.6 | 4.8 | |
| Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births · 2023 | 69.5 | 38.2 | |
| Depression% of people · 2017 | 3.92 | 3.64 | |
| Suicide ratedeaths per 100,000 people · 2017 | 7.5 | 13.1 | |
| People | |||
| Populationpeople · 2023 | 228 million | 20.7 million | |
| Population growth% a year · 2023 | 2.1 | 2.83 | |
| Fertility ratebirths per woman · 2023 | 4.48 | 4.1 | |
| Urban population% of people · 2025 | 63.8 | 45.9 | |
| Median ageyears · 2023 | 17.8 | 17.5 | |
| People aged 65 and over% of people · 2023 | 3 | 1.9 | |
| Net migration rateper 1,000 people · 2023 | -0.3 | 0.5 | |
| Economy | |||
| GDP per personUS dollars at 2015 prices · 2025 | $2,369 | $1,356 | |
| GDP growth% a year · 2025 | 4 | 3.8 | |
| Inflation% a year · 2025 | 23 | 13.9 | |
| Government debt% of GDP · 2025 | 36.1 | 100.6 | |
| Education | |||
| Learning-adjusted schoolingyears · 2020 | 5 | 5 | |
| Adult literacy% of adults · 2024 | 70.4 | 71.8 | |
| Girls in primary school% of girls of primary-school age · 2017 | 58.12010 | 84.9 | |
| Politics | |||
| Electoral democracyindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.51 | 0.5 | |
| Human rightsindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.67 | 0.77 | |
| Conflict | |||
| Deaths in conflictsdeaths a year · 2022 | 2,803 | 0 | |
| Military | |||
| Military spending% of GDP · 2025 | 0.91 | 1.26 | |
| Military spending in US dollarsUS dollars at 2024 prices · 2025 | $1.76B | $343M | |
| Military spending per personUS dollars per person · 2025 | $9 | $19 | |
| Military share of state spending% of government spending · 2025 | 5.9 | 4.5 | |
| Armed forces personnelpeople · 2020 | 223,000 | 16,000 | |
| National power% of world capability · 2022 | 1.16 | 0.1 | |
| Armed forces, share of workers% of the labour force · 2020 | 0.23 | 0.24 | |
| Arms importsSIPRI trend-indicator values · 2025 | 21 million | 1 million2024 | |
| Arms exportsSIPRI trend-indicator values · 2022 | 4 million | 2 million1990 | |
| Climate | |||
| Temperature°C · 2025 | 27.8 | 22 | |
| Days above 35 °Cdays a year · 2014 | 107.4 | 9.7 | |
| Tropical nightsnights a year · 2014 | 303.9 | 62.9 | |
| Technology and environment | |||
| CO₂ per persontonnes per person · 2024 | 0.57 | 0.54 | |
| Internet users% of people · 2024 | 41.2 | 17.1 | |
| Access to electricity% of people · 2024 | 62.5 | 53.6 | |
| Forest area% of land · 2024 | 19 | 60.5 | |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time