World population/Nigeria
Africa
Population of Nigeria
242,431,835
Growing by 0.16 people every second
#6
world rank
2.92%
of world population
+2.04%
yearly change
+4,942,428
people this year
7,711,752
births a year
2,780,787
deaths a year
How the figure for Nigeria is worked out
The United Nations puts the population of Nigeria at 242,431,835 on 1 July 2026, and projects 247,374,263 for 1 July 2027. The counter above moves steadily between those two published points, which works out at about 0.16 people added every second.
That places Nigeria number 6 of the 237 countries and areas the United Nations reports, holding 2.92 per cent of everyone alive, and among the largest of the 58 entries in Africa.
Underneath that single number sit roughly 7,711,752 births and 2,780,787 deaths a year. The gap between them is natural increase; the difference between natural increase and the change in total population is migration.
None of this is counted in real time. No country registers births and deaths as they happen and publishes them to the second. The seconds ticking above are arithmetic between two annual reference points, and the broad figure is far more reliable than its final digits.
Other countries in Africa
Ranked by population.