Which country in Africa has the highest population growth?

Chad has the highest population growth in Africa: +3.41% a year (2025). Next come the Central African Republic (+3.37% a year) and Somalia (+3.34% a year).

Which country in Africa has the lowest population growth?

Mauritius, with −0.16% a year (2025).

What is the typical population growth of a country in Africa?

The median of the 54 countries in Africa is +2.17% a year: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

How much the population grew or shrank over the year, in per cent: births minus deaths, plus people arriving minus people leaving. Source: World Bank, 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Countries in Africa by population growth

How much the population grew or shrank over the year, in per cent: births minus deaths, plus people arriving minus people leaving. 54 countries in Africa, highest first. World Bank, 2025

See it on the map

Map: Population growth — Africa — **−1%−0.2%+0.2%+1.5%+3%**No data

Highest

+3.41

Chad

Median country

+2.17

half above, half below

Lowest

−0.16

Mauritius

Countries in Africa by population growth, World Bank, 2025
#	Country	% a year	Region
1	Chad	+3.41	Middle Africa
2	Central African Republic	+3.37	Middle Africa
3	Somalia	+3.34	Eastern Africa
4	Niger	+3.22	Western Africa
5	DR Congo	+3.20	Middle Africa
6	Angola	+3.00	Middle Africa
7	Mali	+2.90	Western Africa
8	Tanzania	+2.86	Eastern Africa
9	Mozambique	+2.85	Eastern Africa
10	Mauritania	+2.78	Western Africa
11	Zambia	+2.77	Eastern Africa
12	Uganda	+2.70	Eastern Africa
=13	Cameroon	+2.56	Middle Africa
=13	Malawi	+2.56	Eastern Africa
15	Ethiopia	+2.55	Eastern Africa
16	Burundi	+2.41	Eastern Africa
=17	Benin	+2.40	Western Africa
=17	Côte d'Ivoire	+2.40	Western Africa
=17	Equatorial Guinea	+2.40	Middle Africa
=17	Madagascar	+2.40	Eastern Africa
21	Sudan	+2.38	Northern Africa
22	Congo	+2.36	Middle Africa
23	Guinea	+2.31	Western Africa
24	Senegal	+2.30	Western Africa
25	Gambia	+2.23	Western Africa
26	Burkina Faso	+2.21	Western Africa
27	Togo	+2.18	Western Africa
28	Rwanda	+2.17	Eastern Africa
29	Guinea-Bissau	+2.16	Western Africa
30	Gabon	+2.11	Middle Africa
31	Liberia	+2.09	Western Africa
32	Nigeria	+2.06	Western Africa
33	Namibia	+2.05	Southern Africa
34	Sierra Leone	+2.04	Western Africa
35	South Sudan	+2.03	Eastern Africa
36	Eritrea	+2.00	Eastern Africa
37	São Tomé and Principe	+1.98	Middle Africa
38	Kenya	+1.93	Eastern Africa
39	Zimbabwe	+1.88	Eastern Africa
40	Comoros	+1.85	Eastern Africa
41	Ghana	+1.83	Western Africa
42	Botswana	+1.61	Southern Africa
43	Egypt	+1.56	Northern Africa
44	Algeria	+1.32	Northern Africa
45	Djibouti	+1.31	Eastern Africa
46	South Africa	+1.15	Southern Africa
47	Seychelles	+1.13	Eastern Africa
48	Lesotho	+1.10	Southern Africa
49	Eswatini	+1.07	Southern Africa
50	Libya	+1.04	Northern Africa
51	Morocco	+0.91	Northern Africa
52	Tunisia	+0.58	Northern Africa
53	Cabo Verde	+0.47	Western Africa
54	Mauritius	−0.16	Eastern Africa

Questions

Which country in Africa has the highest population growth?: Chad has the highest population growth in Africa: +3.41% a year (2025). Next come the Central African Republic (+3.37% a year) and Somalia (+3.34% a year).
Which country in Africa has the lowest population growth?: Mauritius, with −0.16% a year (2025).
What is the typical population growth of a country in Africa?: The median of the 54 countries in Africa is +2.17% a year: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
Where do the figures come from?: How much the population grew or shrank over the year, in per cent: births minus deaths, plus people arriving minus people leaving. Source: World Bank, 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.