Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Eastern Africa population

Eastern Africa population now

529,560,996

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 487,857,331

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 526.383 million
Median age: 19.5
Aged 65+: 3.1%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 200,000 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

AGG · 1950–2100 · in brief

Eastern Africa in numbers

In mid-2023 there were 487,857,331 people in Eastern Africa, and 6.0% of the world's people. That is 7.4 times its 1950 population of 65.7 million. It covers 20 countries and areas; the largest are Ethiopia (26.4%), Tanzania (13.7%), Kenya (11.3%), Uganda (10.0%) and Mozambique (6.9%).

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 1.38 billion.

Births outnumber deaths in every year from 1950 to 2100, estimates and projection alike.

The median age was 18.3 in 1950 and 19.0 in 2023; the projection has 36.4 in 2100. 3.0% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 15.4% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is still growing in 2100 in the medium projection.

Population, mid-2023: 487,857,331
Share of the world, 2023: 6.0%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +2.64% · +12,557,421 people
Births, 2023: 15,929,333
Deaths, 2023: 3,122,498
Net migration, 2023: +153,921
Children per woman, 2023: 4.11
Median age, 2023: 19.0 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 65.6 years
Population, mid-1950: 65,735,637
Projected, mid-2050: 855,453,354
Projected, mid-2100: 1,382,604,934

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections0250 m500 m750 m1 bn1.25 bn1.5 bn1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). Every column stands for a single year, counted on 1 January, and the paper rules slice it into cells of equal size.

Show the numbers: Eastern Africa, 1950–2100

Eastern Africa: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	65,031,204	3,174,030	1,708,074	6.69	38.3
1951	estimate	66,440,070	3,253,248	1,709,582	6.70	38.7
1952	estimate	67,926,815	3,336,578	1,719,076	6.71	39.1
1953	estimate	69,472,902	3,421,888	1,730,480	6.73	39.6
1954	estimate	71,062,656	3,504,387	1,741,658	6.74	40.0
1955	estimate	72,729,134	3,590,646	1,753,575	6.75	40.5
1956	estimate	74,466,138	3,683,067	1,766,889	6.77	40.9
1957	estimate	76,280,811	3,779,478	1,910,091	6.80	39.5
1958	estimate	78,043,651	3,875,049	1,928,913	6.82	39.8
1959	estimate	79,845,029	3,976,560	1,808,250	6.84	42.1
1960	estimate	81,911,945	4,082,633	1,827,202	6.87	42.5
1961	estimate	84,068,433	4,192,596	1,843,989	6.89	43.0
1962	estimate	86,366,318	4,311,000	1,867,486	6.92	43.4
1963	estimate	88,725,949	4,430,279	1,901,492	6.94	43.6
1964	estimate	91,180,262	4,552,219	1,909,104	6.96	44.3
1965	estimate	93,805,573	4,683,873	1,960,282	6.98	44.3
1966	estimate	96,485,157	4,821,247	2,061,251	7.01	43.7
1967	estimate	99,211,405	4,956,033	2,038,221	7.02	44.7
1968	estimate	102,102,318	5,097,026	2,075,222	7.03	45.0
1969	estimate	105,120,060	5,243,139	2,122,744	7.04	45.1
1970	estimate	108,200,931	5,401,180	2,164,886	7.06	45.3
1971	estimate	111,367,865	5,562,629	2,200,085	7.07	45.7
1972	estimate	114,611,490	5,717,360	2,345,276	7.08	44.6
1973	estimate	117,764,583	5,870,377	2,317,944	7.09	45.8
1974	estimate	121,238,478	6,054,902	2,417,877	7.11	45.5
1975	estimate	124,821,590	6,243,941	2,470,489	7.12	45.7
1976	estimate	128,469,363	6,428,188	2,447,488	7.12	46.6
1977	estimate	132,324,971	6,619,892	2,496,205	7.13	46.8
1978	estimate	135,867,246	6,802,040	2,547,536	7.13	47.0
1979	estimate	140,175,777	7,015,637	2,585,879	7.11	47.4
1980	estimate	144,296,844	7,203,933	2,632,062	7.09	47.7
1981	estimate	148,242,438	7,381,368	2,685,293	7.07	47.9
1982	estimate	152,969,560	7,581,324	2,736,986	7.04	48.1
1983	estimate	157,743,365	7,783,575	3,083,585	7.00	45.9
1984	estimate	162,432,051	7,974,705	3,165,762	6.95	45.7
1985	estimate	167,310,683	8,180,907	3,179,114	6.90	46.3
1986	estimate	172,445,793	8,370,031	3,208,910	6.84	46.7
1987	estimate	177,686,930	8,570,934	3,081,323	6.78	48.1
1988	estimate	183,230,879	8,771,241	3,326,273	6.72	47.2
1989	estimate	188,274,036	8,950,604	3,174,068	6.65	48.7
1990	estimate	193,710,846	9,144,433	3,283,284	6.58	48.4
1991	estimate	199,382,824	9,331,933	3,493,643	6.50	47.5
1992	estimate	204,875,434	9,525,526	3,612,010	6.44	47.1
1993	estimate	210,554,106	9,713,432	3,543,130	6.38	48.0
1994	estimate	216,675,662	9,884,134	4,346,218	6.31	42.8
1995	estimate	221,218,480	10,095,609	3,552,725	6.26	48.9
1996	estimate	227,944,950	10,360,859	3,612,514	6.21	49.1
1997	estimate	235,207,961	10,623,042	3,667,335	6.18	49.4
1998	estimate	242,141,884	10,862,010	3,834,919	6.13	48.8
1999	estimate	248,841,645	11,096,763	3,686,347	6.06	50.3
2000	estimate	255,909,820	11,300,536	3,625,320	5.99	51.2
2001	estimate	263,072,988	11,526,209	3,611,440	5.93	51.8
2002	estimate	270,559,049	11,744,918	3,572,771	5.87	52.6
2003	estimate	278,304,501	11,957,300	3,525,437	5.80	53.4
2004	estimate	286,494,100	12,220,199	3,474,261	5.74	54.3
2005	estimate	294,832,369	12,463,512	3,435,486	5.67	55.0
2006	estimate	303,390,510	12,652,992	3,381,875	5.59	55.9
2007	estimate	312,221,014	12,845,683	3,329,003	5.50	56.7
2008	estimate	321,396,073	13,045,996	3,270,835	5.42	57.5
2009	estimate	330,770,224	13,230,923	3,215,681	5.32	58.4
2010	estimate	340,303,391	13,394,702	3,187,982	5.21	59.0
2011	estimate	350,254,818	13,511,087	3,337,344	5.08	58.7
2012	estimate	359,842,626	13,596,036	3,102,414	4.96	60.4
2013	estimate	369,950,581	13,726,266	3,044,813	4.84	61.2
2014	estimate	380,276,333	13,895,489	3,113,523	4.75	61.3
2015	estimate	390,185,141	14,039,136	3,146,058	4.66	61.6
2016	estimate	400,476,451	14,251,359	3,170,740	4.59	62.0
2017	estimate	411,028,450	14,477,112	3,202,192	4.52	62.3
2018	estimate	421,604,093	14,733,701	3,059,286	4.47	63.5
2019	estimate	433,223,009	15,026,122	3,035,661	4.41	64.2
2020	estimate	445,111,122	15,279,409	3,122,930	4.34	64.2
2021	estimate	457,294,586	15,520,804	3,306,648	4.26	63.5
2022	estimate	469,222,862	15,735,848	3,169,063	4.19	64.9
2023	estimate	481,376,957	15,929,333	3,122,498	4.11	65.6
2024	estimate	494,337,705	16,158,655	3,174,411	4.04	65.8
2025	projection	507,069,987	16,335,184	3,223,935	3.96	66.0
2026	projection	519,901,399	16,527,606	3,274,080	3.89	66.2
2027	projection	532,863,727	16,707,172	3,325,376	3.82	66.4
2028	projection	545,971,708	16,884,695	3,379,296	3.75	66.6
2029	projection	559,131,987	17,055,047	3,434,295	3.69	66.8
2030	projection	572,438,831	17,213,311	3,490,335	3.63	67.0
2031	projection	585,841,589	17,369,265	3,550,052	3.57	67.2
2032	projection	599,353,820	17,491,050	3,610,146	3.51	67.4
2033	projection	612,871,124	17,621,145	3,671,606	3.45	67.6
2034	projection	626,430,447	17,748,395	3,735,079	3.40	67.8
2035	projection	640,134,079	17,876,982	3,801,133	3.35	68.0
2036	projection	653,953,546	17,993,140	3,870,113	3.29	68.2
2037	projection	667,757,316	18,101,289	3,940,510	3.25	68.3
2038	projection	681,624,065	18,224,322	4,013,902	3.20	68.5
2039	projection	695,501,017	18,337,257	4,089,295	3.15	68.7
2040	projection	709,417,283	18,452,799	4,167,311	3.11	68.9
2041	projection	723,397,750	18,558,100	4,247,756	3.07	69.0
2042	projection	737,333,027	18,674,509	4,331,580	3.03	69.2
2043	projection	751,275,528	18,775,603	4,416,766	2.99	69.4
2044	projection	765,263,690	18,872,131	4,506,392	2.96	69.5
2045	projection	779,221,105	18,948,049	4,596,838	2.92	69.7
2046	projection	793,117,638	19,050,672	4,690,419	2.88	69.9
2047	projection	806,993,109	19,131,360	4,784,565	2.85	70.0
2048	projection	820,940,889	19,214,295	4,882,984	2.82	70.2
2049	projection	834,806,072	19,279,480	4,984,445	2.79	70.3
2050	projection	848,600,933	19,347,498	5,087,962	2.76	70.5
2051	projection	862,305,774	19,420,949	5,192,661	2.73	70.7
2052	projection	876,086,104	19,486,661	5,300,656	2.70	70.8
2053	projection	889,760,916	19,541,888	5,410,395	2.67	71.0
2054	projection	903,348,615	19,595,946	5,524,648	2.65	71.1
2055	projection	916,925,125	19,644,456	5,641,722	2.62	71.3
2056	projection	930,444,065	19,691,113	5,760,584	2.60	71.4
2057	projection	943,946,644	19,743,254	5,881,856	2.57	71.6
2058	projection	957,274,330	19,791,778	6,003,908	2.55	71.7
2059	projection	970,509,682	19,830,244	6,128,749	2.53	71.9
2060	projection	983,832,912	19,860,754	6,255,010	2.51	72.0
2061	projection	996,978,173	19,895,730	6,385,488	2.49	72.2
2062	projection	1,010,104,299	19,922,371	6,519,609	2.47	72.3
2063	projection	1,022,946,534	19,933,432	6,654,665	2.45	72.5
2064	projection	1,035,646,435	19,939,941	6,789,496	2.43	72.7
2065	projection	1,048,252,521	19,952,728	6,927,687	2.41	72.8
2066	projection	1,060,797,962	19,964,552	7,069,410	2.39	73.0
2067	projection	1,073,091,292	19,965,862	7,214,108	2.38	73.1
2068	projection	1,085,340,391	19,965,952	7,359,783	2.36	73.3
2069	projection	1,097,367,772	19,961,608	7,507,470	2.34	73.4
2070	projection	1,109,262,927	19,961,231	7,657,484	2.33	73.6
2071	projection	1,121,023,271	19,958,595	7,808,838	2.31	73.7
2072	projection	1,132,600,985	19,949,048	7,964,562	2.30	73.9
2073	projection	1,144,053,486	19,936,945	8,121,868	2.28	74.0
2074	projection	1,155,301,714	19,919,016	8,283,204	2.27	74.2
2075	projection	1,166,438,380	19,902,154	8,442,313	2.25	74.3
2076	projection	1,177,369,010	19,884,965	8,606,291	2.24	74.4
2077	projection	1,188,095,298	19,860,227	8,770,548	2.23	74.6
2078	projection	1,198,742,040	19,832,313	8,937,225	2.21	74.7
2079	projection	1,209,129,459	19,797,720	9,104,732	2.20	74.9
2080	projection	1,219,253,652	19,770,715	9,271,904	2.19	75.0
2081	projection	1,229,139,952	19,743,450	9,441,364	2.18	75.2
2082	projection	1,238,811,999	19,723,973	9,609,692	2.17	75.3
2083	projection	1,248,432,200	19,690,068	9,777,031	2.16	75.4
2084	projection	1,257,779,498	19,657,859	9,946,317	2.15	75.6
2085	projection	1,266,883,399	19,619,121	10,114,276	2.14	75.7
2086	projection	1,275,908,651	19,582,853	10,282,926	2.13	75.9
2087	projection	1,284,751,771	19,546,117	10,449,051	2.12	76.0
2088	projection	1,293,293,500	19,506,964	10,613,107	2.11	76.1
2089	projection	1,301,536,555	19,457,807	10,775,186	2.10	76.3
2090	projection	1,309,671,586	19,407,121	10,933,868	2.09	76.4
2091	projection	1,317,609,226	19,365,552	11,093,133	2.08	76.6
2092	projection	1,325,251,666	19,312,092	11,249,599	2.07	76.7
2093	projection	1,332,715,864	19,256,172	11,405,753	2.06	76.8
2094	projection	1,339,994,933	19,199,180	11,558,757	2.06	77.0
2095	projection	1,347,081,106	19,145,236	11,709,567	2.05	77.1
2096	projection	1,353,948,742	19,087,027	11,856,761	2.04	77.3
2097	projection	1,360,732,519	19,034,160	12,007,112	2.03	77.4
2098	projection	1,367,231,047	18,976,395	12,156,430	2.03	77.5
2099	projection	1,373,534,384	18,917,138	12,300,229	2.02	77.7
2100	projection	1,379,630,896	18,849,956	12,442,990	2.01	77.8

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Eastern Africa

Eastern Africa: member countries and areas, population mid-2023, share of the group and projected mid-2100
#	Country or area	Mid-2023	Share	Mid-2100, projected
1	Ethiopia	128,691,692	26.4%	367,289,596
2	Tanzania	66,617,606	13.7%	262,834,721
3	Kenya	55,339,002	11.3%	104,195,500
4	Uganda	48,656,602	10.0%	120,835,192
5	Mozambique	33,635,160	6.9%	104,346,534
6	Madagascar	31,195,932	6.4%	85,341,147
7	Malawi	21,104,482	4.3%	59,141,258
8	Zambia	20,723,965	4.2%	64,473,916
9	Somalia	18,358,615	3.8%	67,364,024
10	Zimbabwe	16,340,821	3.3%	37,166,572
11	Rwanda	13,954,472	2.9%	32,779,346
12	Burundi	13,689,449	2.8%	37,873,962
13	South Sudan	11,483,374	2.4%	23,840,772
14	Eritrea	3,470,390	0.71%	8,444,382
15	Mauritius	1,273,588	0.26%	581,716
16	Djibouti	1,152,944	0.24%	1,841,534
17	Réunion	874,883	0.18%	852,214
18	Comoros	850,387	0.17%	1,911,034
19	Mayotte	316,016	0.06%	1,375,550
20	Seychelles	127,950	0.03%	115,964

Show the numbers: Eastern Africa, mid-2026, by single year of age

Eastern Africa: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	8,086,220	7,870,560
1	7,918,180	7,716,560
2	7,780,110	7,583,050
3	7,642,040	7,451,110
4	7,505,880	7,324,150
5	7,366,070	7,193,930
6	7,221,090	7,057,200
7	7,061,250	6,907,670
8	6,892,120	6,750,210
9	6,735,500	6,604,240
10	6,597,590	6,474,790
11	6,483,180	6,367,310
12	6,383,190	6,273,320
13	6,286,960	6,184,390
14	6,192,470	6,097,290
15	6,096,660	6,008,400
16	5,994,340	5,915,180
17	5,877,480	5,809,300
18	5,748,690	5,692,190
19	5,610,960	5,568,000
20	5,469,140	5,441,040
21	5,311,840	5,299,470
22	5,134,640	5,138,060
23	4,959,430	4,977,240
24	4,791,030	4,821,500
25	4,620,980	4,661,470
26	4,457,440	4,505,840
27	4,294,940	4,349,350
28	4,133,930	4,193,470
29	3,986,950	4,051,200
30	3,843,720	3,912,040
31	3,691,080	3,763,530
32	3,553,350	3,630,220
33	3,428,330	3,509,210
34	3,293,910	3,378,250
35	3,170,060	3,257,980
36	3,058,660	3,151,010
37	2,945,180	3,040,300
38	2,831,220	2,926,180
39	2,723,340	2,823,390
40	2,614,550	2,720,060
41	2,500,400	2,606,010
42	2,390,210	2,495,780
43	2,295,090	2,401,070
44	2,213,020	2,321,060
45	2,126,740	2,236,600
46	2,035,010	2,145,170
47	1,940,110	2,053,520
48	1,840,250	1,958,130
49	1,744,890	1,865,020
50	1,655,740	1,778,730
51	1,568,780	1,692,640
52	1,488,300	1,610,400
53	1,417,610	1,539,480
54	1,350,620	1,474,290
55	1,282,100	1,408,060
56	1,212,860	1,340,760
57	1,144,830	1,274,750
58	1,077,880	1,210,460
59	1,010,870	1,147,030
60	945,400	1,086,090
61	884,512	1,030,800
62	827,795	980,460
63	774,712	933,423
64	724,266	887,767
65	675,886	843,315
66	630,108	799,477
67	584,058	752,618
68	537,576	702,719
69	495,480	655,652
70	457,968	612,628
71	422,367	570,271
72	387,308	527,409
73	352,502	484,000
74	318,243	440,775
75	284,984	398,698
76	260,298	363,790
77	233,802	328,061
78	204,252	291,928
79	178,386	259,824
80	152,532	227,456
81	129,067	197,294
82	108,230	169,802
83	90,035	145,410
84	74,180	123,779
85	60,490	104,452
86	48,756	87,368
87	38,668	72,442
88	30,294	59,427
89	23,289	47,946
90	17,464	37,946
91	12,872	29,704
92	9,378	23,042
93	6,713	17,547
94	4,714	13,133
95	3,260	9,666
96	2,220	6,988
97	1,490	4,967
98	988	3,478
99	652	2,396
100+	1,122	4,690

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Eastern Africa, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

AGG · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Eastern Africa

In Eastern Africa the number of people aged 15–64 is still growing in 2100, the last year the UN projects. In 2023 there were 273,401,000 of them.

100 aged 15–64

73 children

5 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: take 100 people of working age — the orange row — and the two rows under it are the children (teal) and the people of 65 and over (violet) who lived alongside them in 2023.

At no point between 1950 and 2100 do fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 here.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: 1950 on the left, 2100 on the right; coloured in the years with fewer than 50 dependants per 100 working-age people, grey in the rest, hatched where that is a projection.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Eastern Africa, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Eastern Africa loses 184,635 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 25–29, at 49,301 a year more leaving than arriving.

one square = 5,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: age runs left to right, babies to 100. A blue square above the line means arrivals outnumber departures at that age, an orange square below it means the opposite. The figures are the UN's projection for 2020–2025; nobody recorded migration by age before 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 514,450 (1996) and the most it lost was 995,100 (1994).

This is a group of countries, so its figure counts only moves across its own outer edge: someone moving from one country inside it to another does not appear.

How migration works everywhere

AGG · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Eastern Africa

Of every 100 babies born in Eastern Africa in 2023, 16 had a mother under 20, 70 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 14 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 17 under 20 and 18 aged 35 or older.

1950
17 · 65 · 18

2023
16 · 70 · 14

2050 · projected
14 · 71 · 15

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: one block a year, 100 squares in each, a square for every hundredth baby. The colour is the mother's age group, and the three numbers underneath are those groups in order, youngest first.

Babies born, 2023: 15,929,333
Average age when women have a baby: 28.7 years; 29.6 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 93; 141 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Eastern Africa by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	63,061	121,745	132,499	76,989	51,286	11,825
15–19	472,515	1,095,793	1,929,425	2,524,924	2,575,799	1,274,710
20–24	781,073	1,564,740	3,087,410	4,539,178	5,143,823	3,638,307
25–29	719,881	1,340,114	2,532,387	3,825,292	4,960,045	5,339,138
30–34	549,528	999,917	1,838,315	2,688,163	3,689,555	4,930,234
35–39	364,729	685,775	1,121,515	1,568,696	2,089,428	2,744,809
40–44	177,434	350,855	528,369	593,925	727,204	816,402
45–49	43,567	81,094	124,649	107,868	106,505	92,130
50–54	2,242	3,908	5,967	4,298	3,853	2,401
All babies	3,174,030	6,243,941	11,300,536	15,929,333	19,347,498	18,849,956

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual tables for regions and groups (estimates to 2023, then the medium projection), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UN WUP 2025 · Maddison Project 2020 · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The 20 countries listed were summed and checked against the UN's total for every year. The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.