Population in Nigeria compared to South Africa: Trends, Charts, Rankings

Nigeria and South Africa: population history and growth rate by year chart

Table

Year	Population		Growth rate
	Nigeria	South Africa	Nigeria	South Africa
1960	45,053,782	16,440,172	-	-
1961	45,989,310	16,908,035	2.08%	2.85%
1962	46,965,292	17,418,522	2.12%	3.02%
1963	47,973,575	17,954,564	2.15%	3.08%
1964	49,012,016	18,511,361	2.16%	3.1%
1965	50,086,764	19,089,380	2.19%	3.12%
1966	51,188,234	19,690,087	2.2%	3.15%
1967	52,293,065	20,314,066	2.16%	3.17%
1968	53,432,783	20,957,287	2.18%	3.17%
1969	54,631,914	21,614,676	2.24%	3.14%
1970	55,893,838	22,279,984	2.31%	3.08%
1971	57,214,684	22,942,143	2.36%	2.97%
1972	58,601,748	23,609,456	2.42%	2.91%
1973	60,082,139	24,294,263	2.53%	2.9%
1974	61,679,144	24,989,108	2.66%	2.86%
1975	63,410,815	25,690,940	2.81%	2.81%
1976	65,258,009	26,395,450	2.91%	2.74%
1977	67,234,590	27,118,952	3.03%	2.74%
1978	69,326,532	27,869,507	3.11%	2.77%
1979	71,498,242	28,634,162	3.13%	2.74%
1980	73,764,641	29,518,857	3.17%	3.09%
1981	76,068,103	30,541,044	3.12%	3.46%
1982	78,378,701	31,615,339	3.04%	3.52%
1983	80,438,260	32,739,304	2.63%	3.56%
1984	82,526,443	33,892,788	2.6%	3.52%
1985	84,897,973	35,042,093	2.87%	3.39%
1986	87,235,953	36,180,515	2.75%	3.25%
1987	89,591,716	37,326,190	2.7%	3.17%
1988	92,020,090	38,480,649	2.71%	3.09%
1989	94,531,014	39,628,575	2.73%	2.98%
1990	97,120,925	40,746,268	2.74%	2.82%
1991	99,720,162	41,687,898	2.68%	2.31%
1992	102,372,770	42,443,509	2.66%	1.81%
1993	105,122,069	43,297,156	2.69%	2.01%
1994	107,935,714	44,004,139	2.68%	1.63%
1995	110,819,428	44,541,554	2.67%	1.22%
1996	113,754,779	45,123,018	2.65%	1.31%
1997	116,754,792	45,666,838	2.64%	1.21%
1998	119,846,254	46,223,880	2.65%	1.22%
1999	123,047,320	46,730,335	2.67%	1.1%
2000	126,382,494	47,159,719	2.71%	0.92%
2001	129,862,595	47,566,800	2.75%	0.86%
2002	133,471,989	48,019,415	2.78%	0.95%
2003	137,202,644	48,500,348	2.8%	1%
2004	141,057,045	48,991,421	2.81%	1.01%
2005	145,017,253	49,490,033	2.81%	1.02%
2006	149,077,334	49,998,277	2.8%	1.03%
2007	153,267,261	50,528,584	2.81%	1.06%
2008	157,595,014	51,114,599	2.82%	1.16%
2009	162,049,464	51,728,516	2.83%	1.2%
2010	166,642,886	52,344,051	2.83%	1.19%
2011	171,379,598	52,995,205	2.84%	1.24%
2012	176,200,625	53,782,567	2.81%	1.49%
2013	181,049,443	54,678,791	2.75%	1.67%
2014	185,896,915	55,594,838	2.68%	1.68%
2015	190,671,878	56,723,537	2.57%	2.03%
2016	195,443,700	57,259,551	2.5%	0.94%
2017	200,254,579	57,635,162	2.46%	0.66%
2018	204,938,755	58,613,001	2.34%	1.7%
2019	209,485,641	59,587,885	2.22%	1.66%
2020	213,996,181	60,562,381	2.15%	1.64%
2021	218,529,286	61,502,603	2.12%	1.55%
2022	223,150,896	62,378,410	2.11%	1.42%
2023	227,882,945	63,212,384	2.12%	1.34%
2024	232,679,478	64,007,187	2.1%	1.26%
2025	237,527,783	64,747,317	2.08%	1.16%
2026	242,431,830	65,453,086	2.06%	1.09%
2027	247,374,258	66,143,018	2.04%	1.05%
2028	252,346,128	66,830,384	2.01%	1.04%
2029	257,352,638	67,506,850	1.98%	1.01%
2030	262,380,975	68,161,357	1.95%	0.97%
2031	267,421,079	68,798,574	1.92%	0.93%
2032	272,483,635	69,426,441	1.89%	0.91%
2033	277,555,116	70,040,484	1.86%	0.88%
2034	282,622,388	70,641,572	1.83%	0.86%
2035	287,685,757	71,234,749	1.79%	0.84%
2036	292,739,390	71,816,372	1.76%	0.82%
2037	297,773,236	72,387,807	1.72%	0.8%
2038	302,782,350	72,949,611	1.68%	0.78%
2039	307,764,754	73,496,152	1.65%	0.75%
2040	312,710,403	74,035,615	1.61%	0.73%
2041	317,607,237	74,575,444	1.57%	0.73%
2042	322,450,302	75,111,899	1.52%	0.72%
2043	327,243,941	75,641,512	1.49%	0.71%
2044	331,983,354	76,164,461	1.45%	0.69%
2045	336,662,502	76,681,448	1.41%	0.68%
2046	341,281,757	77,199,542	1.37%	0.68%
2047	345,844,004	77,716,650	1.34%	0.67%
2048	350,347,757	78,215,323	1.3%	0.64%
2049	354,792,418	78,699,584	1.27%	0.62%
2050	359,185,550	79,177,329	1.24%	0.61%

From 2005 to 2015, the population of Nigeria increased by 45,654,625 people (a 31.5% growth), while South Africa gained 7,233,504 people (a 14.6% growth).

For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, Nigeria gained 50,795,221 (a 26.6% growth), while South Africa's population increased by 8,590,709 (a 15.1% growth).

Nigeria was ranked 7th most populous country in 2005 and is 6th in 2025. South Africa was ranked 24th in 2005 and still ranked 24th now.

The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) Nigeria's population will grow by 48.8% to 359,185,550 people with a rank change from 6th to 5th. The population of South Africa will increase by 21.2% to 79,177,329 people and rank change from 24th to 23rd.