Regional Projections
Population trajectories 1950–2100 for each major region, based on the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium variant.
Africa, 1950–2100
Current (2024): 1.50B · 2050 2.50B · 2100 4.30B
Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024 · https://population.un.org/wpp/
Accessible data table
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 220,000,000 |
| 1960 | 280,000,000 |
| 1970 | 360,000,000 |
| 1980 | 480,000,000 |
| 1990 | 630,000,000 |
| 2000 | 810,000,000 |
| 2010 | 1,050,000,000 |
| 2020 | 1,360,000,000 |
| 2030 | 1,700,000,000 |
| 2040 | 2,100,000,000 |
| 2050 | 2,500,000,000 |
| 2060 | 2,900,000,000 |
| 2070 | 3,300,000,000 |
| 2080 | 3,700,000,000 |
| 2090 | 4,000,000,000 |
| 2100 | 4,300,000,000 |
UN Africa aggregate.
What the data show
Africa has an estimated population of about 1.50B in 2024. Under the UN WPP 2024 medium variant it is projected to reach 2.50B by 2050 and 4.30B by 2100, a change of 186.6% from today. The current total fertility rate is 4.1 births per woman and the median age is 19 years.
Why it matters for continuity
Africa's trajectory is characterised as "Strong growth". Population change interacts with fertility, age structure and migration to shape the generation that will inherit the region's languages, institutions and traditions.
Africa is one of the principal regional aggregates tracked by the United Nations DESA Population Division. The figures shown here follow the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium variant, which assumes a continuation of recent demographic trends in fertility, mortality and migration.
Population projection is not prediction. It is a conditional scenario: if fertility falls as expected, if mortality continues to decline, and if net migration follows the assumed path, the region's population would follow this trajectory. Alternative variants — high, low, constant fertility, and zero migration — produce different outcomes and are explored on the Projections page.
Underlying the regional total is enormous diversity between countries. A single regional figure can conceal very different national stories: one country still growing strongly, another already contracting, a third near its peak. The country pages separate these national trajectories and, where available, contrast the internationally harmonised UN estimate with the latest national official figure.
For continuity, what matters is not only how many people a region will have, but how old they will be, how many are of working age, how many are children, and how migration reshapes the balance. These dimensions are explored across the Fertility, Generations, Natural Change and Migration pages.
UN Africa aggregate.