Sanitation and Wastewater Atlas of Africa

1.1.1 Africa’s population dynamics

According to the Demographic Profile of African Countries (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA] 2016), Africa’s population has grown at an average annual rate of 2.6 per cent in the last 30 years, compared with the global average rate of 1.5 per cent. The same report further indicates that between 1980 and 2015, Africa’s population increased by a total of 708 million, with Nigeria contributing on average an additional 3.1 million people per year to the continent’s population. Projections are that Africa’s population growth rate will even out at 1.5 per cent in the years up to 2025. Figure 1.2 further shows the 10 biggest contributors to population increase on the African continent, while Figure 1.3 shows population growth trends for the continent.

Africa’s population grew at an annual average of 2.6 in the last three decades

Regions of the African Union and their populations in 2019 (in thousands of inhabitants)

T op 10 contributors to population increase in Africa Average annual population increase between 1980 to 2015 (in thousands)

Nigeria 3100

Ethiopia 1833

DR Congo 1455

Egypt 1375

Central Africa

153 481

Northern Africa

204 079

Tanzania 994 Kenya 851 Uganda 757 Sudan 738 South Africa 726 Algeria 581

Southern Africa

228 757

West Africa

387 511

East Africa

388 668

Source: Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat, 2017; UN DESA, 2017

Source: ECA, 2016

Figure 1.2 . Regions of the African Union

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SANITATION AND WASTEWATER ATLAS OF AFRICA