Countries With The Fastest Growing Populations
Compiled by: Yan Vana
Introduction
The world’s human population continues to grow at an unsustainable rate, with the United Nations (UN) predicting 10.3 billion people by the mid 2080s. However, population growth rates remain uneven across the globe, with some countries seeing declines, while others continue to experience explosive growth.
According to senior researcher and demographer Tomas Sobotka: “Most countries with high rates of population growth share a combination of young population structure (including a high number of women of a reproductive age) and high fertility rates (numbers of births per mother). Although fertility rates have been declining everywhere, countries with young population structures will continue experiencing high population growth for many decades to come”.[1]
A country’s overall population growth rate is calculated by its birthrate compared to deaths, factoring in net immigration. A country’s growth rate can be either positive (a growing population) or negative (a shrinking population).
The figures below are based on population growth within each respective country throughout 2024. They are calculated by comparing populations at the end of 2024, to those at the start of the year.
Current (total) population figures are accurate at the time of writing.
Key Facts
The following are the 10 countries with the fastest population growth.
1. South Sudan
Annual population growth: 4.7 per cent[2]
Current population: 12.141 million[3]
2. Niger
Annual population growth: 3.7 per cent[2]
Current population: 27.746 million[3]
3. Angola
Annual population growth: 3.3 per cent[2]
Current population: 38.817 million[3]
4. Benin
Annual population growth: 3.3 per cent[2]
Current population: 14.746 million[3]
5. Equatorial Guinea
Annual population growth: 3.2 per cent[2]
Current population: 1.929 million[3]
6. Uganda
Annual population growth: 3.2 per cent[2]
Current population: 51.121 million[3]
7. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Annual population growth: 3.1 per cent[2]
Current population: 112.146 million[3]
8. Chad
Annual population growth: 3.0 per cent[2]
Current population: 20.867 million[3]
9. Mali
Annual population growth: 2.9 per cent[2]
Current population: 20.060 million[3]
10 Zambia
Annual population growth: 2.8 per cent[2]
Current population: 21.798 million[3]
Additional Facts
As the list shows, Africa is the fastest growing continent in the world in terms of population expansion. By 2054, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to see a significant population increase, with projections showing a 79% rise to 2.2 billion. By the end of this century, that population could reach 3.3 billion, accounting for more than one-fifth of the total global increase.[4]
Nine African countries, including Angola, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger, are likely to double in size between 2024 and 2054. This would mean a shift in the rankings of the world’s most populous countries, with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo surpassing the USA.[4]
In addition to birth rates, increasing life expectancy is also a factor in population growth rates. In 2024, global life expectancy at birth reached 73.3 years, an increase of 8.4 years from 1995. This global average is expected to hit 77.4 years in 2054.[5]
Data Sources
[1] Tomas Sobotkais is a senior researcher at the Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital, and deputy director of the Vienna Institute of Demography
[2] Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook
[3] Worldometer
[4] United Nations
[5] News release: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Other Sources
The Message is the ground-breaking debut novel by Yan Vana, a thought-provoking and critically acclaimed book that will change the way you think about human overpopulation, its effects and consequences.
