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Yei, 
South Sudan
228,087 people lived in Yei in 2025. It is the 2578th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 6th largest in South Sudan.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Yei governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Yei grew
For every 10 people in Yei in 1985, there were 37.8 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 399,008 people in 2050. On the UN's projection it passes 250,000 people between 2025 and 2030. The UN first counts it as a city in 1985, when it passed 50,000 people.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Yei through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Yei in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
South Sudan · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: South Sudan and its 25 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Nimule). Yei is ringed, in colour; the other cities are grey. Neighbouring countries are outlines.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Yei covered 29 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 5.2 km² of it. That is 23 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 5 by 5 metres. Since 2005, its built-up land has grown to 3.7 times its size, and its people have grown by 51%.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in South Sudan
Its share of South Sudan
Of every 100 people in South Sudan in 2025, 2 lived in Yei, which is 228,087 people.
How to read this: shrink South Sudan to 100 people and this is what you get. The coloured squares are the ones who would live in Yei; the grey ones are everybody else, in other cities, in towns and out in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 2571 Jega Nigeria228,584
- 2574 Puli Khumri Afghanistan228,271
- 2575 Asmara Eritrea228,270
- 2576 Lalamusa Pakistan228,248
- 2578 Yei228,087
- 2582 Binhai China227,533
- 2583 Petrozavodsk Russia227,487
- 2586 Hihya Egypt227,360
- 2589 Kazipur Bangladesh227,234
In South Sudan, 2025
- 1316 Torit424,731
- 1453 Juba391,311
- 1740 Riwoto330,053
- 2156 Kapoeta270,167
- 2578 Yei228,087
- 2796 Narus212,131
- 5371 Imehejek114,546
How to read this: the number before each name is its place among all 12,138 cities in the world in 2025; bars are people, on one scale per list. Only cities that reach 300,000 people have a page here, so a gap in the numbers is a smaller city.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Yei are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1985 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Yei publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries