Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Northern Africa population

Northern Africa population now

281,821,972

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: 268,541,105

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 280.740 million
Median age: 26.1
Aged 65+: 6.0%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 50,000 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

Northern Africa in numbers

268,541,105 people lived in Northern Africa in mid-2023: 3.3% of the world's people. That is 5.4 times its 1950 population of 50.0 million. It covers 7 countries and areas; the largest are Egypt (42.7%), Sudan (18.6%), Algeria (17.2%), Morocco (14.0%) and Tunisia (4.5%).

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 462 million.

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

The median age was 19.6 in 1950 and 25.5 in 2023; the projection has 42.1 in 2100. 5.5% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 22.1% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2095 at 281 million.

Population, mid-2023: 268,541,105
Share of the world, 2023: 3.3%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.44% · +3,821,180 people
Births, 2023: 5,924,669
Deaths, 2023: 1,499,175
Net migration, 2023: −1,121,000
Children per woman, 2023: 2.95
Median age, 2023: 25.5 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 72.0 years
Population, mid-1950: 50,045,357
Projected, mid-2050: 373,025,622
Projected, mid-2100: 462,424,933

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections0100 m200 m300 m400 m500 m1950197520002025205020752100

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: Northern Africa, 1950–2100

Northern 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	49,457,600	2,568,270	1,368,669	6.87	37.7
1951	estimate	50,633,114	2,633,320	1,362,818	6.89	38.7
1952	estimate	51,872,533	2,697,492	1,361,482	6.91	39.5
1953	estimate	53,179,143	2,761,351	1,361,689	6.92	40.3
1954	estimate	54,540,692	2,816,218	1,384,428	6.92	40.5
1955	estimate	55,931,561	2,868,057	1,382,885	6.92	41.2
1956	estimate	57,366,811	2,916,606	1,385,880	6.92	41.8
1957	estimate	58,818,595	2,963,352	1,383,750	6.91	42.4
1958	estimate	60,283,939	3,009,672	1,383,779	6.91	43.0
1959	estimate	61,743,215	3,055,255	1,383,465	6.92	43.6
1960	estimate	63,302,592	3,107,906	1,397,650	6.93	43.8
1961	estimate	64,900,065	3,163,170	1,387,665	6.94	44.6
1962	estimate	66,500,956	3,222,557	1,403,135	6.95	44.9
1963	estimate	68,171,548	3,274,306	1,376,058	6.93	46.2
1964	estimate	69,878,554	3,316,560	1,382,069	6.89	46.7
1965	estimate	71,627,341	3,350,957	1,387,186	6.83	47.1
1966	estimate	73,375,223	3,402,625	1,391,622	6.79	47.5
1967	estimate	75,303,028	3,460,103	1,401,782	6.76	47.8
1968	estimate	77,299,058	3,518,944	1,406,736	6.72	48.3
1969	estimate	79,351,932	3,582,747	1,419,154	6.67	48.5
1970	estimate	81,450,869	3,652,343	1,426,076	6.62	49.0
1971	estimate	83,586,414	3,726,182	1,430,138	6.57	49.5
1972	estimate	85,731,544	3,795,297	1,432,280	6.52	50.0
1973	estimate	87,946,146	3,856,829	1,437,708	6.45	50.4
1974	estimate	90,409,561	3,933,693	1,428,320	6.39	51.1
1975	estimate	92,812,633	4,020,627	1,422,567	6.34	51.8
1976	estimate	95,681,794	4,119,430	1,421,691	6.29	52.5
1977	estimate	98,580,896	4,198,187	1,411,587	6.21	53.2
1978	estimate	101,381,276	4,283,159	1,397,235	6.13	54.0
1979	estimate	104,405,922	4,384,004	1,378,607	6.05	54.8
1980	estimate	107,517,016	4,482,648	1,351,015	5.97	55.8
1981	estimate	110,931,748	4,571,484	1,320,653	5.87	56.8
1982	estimate	114,349,391	4,665,721	1,299,788	5.78	57.6
1983	estimate	117,760,232	4,744,977	1,342,403	5.68	57.5
1984	estimate	121,096,425	4,768,996	1,322,810	5.54	58.2
1985	estimate	124,502,450	4,807,948	1,301,863	5.39	58.9
1986	estimate	127,945,040	4,808,260	1,226,849	5.22	60.4
1987	estimate	131,286,767	4,799,857	1,210,918	5.06	61.0
1988	estimate	134,633,149	4,806,507	1,198,243	4.91	61.5
1989	estimate	138,000,403	4,780,246	1,191,132	4.74	62.0
1990	estimate	141,301,731	4,750,900	1,179,611	4.58	62.5
1991	estimate	144,935,773	4,758,530	1,178,955	4.43	62.8
1992	estimate	148,100,511	4,741,198	1,173,737	4.29	63.2
1993	estimate	151,425,194	4,697,877	1,170,470	4.13	63.6
1994	estimate	154,655,476	4,677,216	1,167,202	4.00	64.0
1995	estimate	157,864,607	4,613,509	1,160,054	3.84	64.4
1996	estimate	161,080,213	4,588,391	1,156,366	3.72	64.9
1997	estimate	164,127,666	4,594,548	1,151,613	3.62	65.3
1998	estimate	167,360,095	4,620,251	1,153,733	3.55	65.7
1999	estimate	170,653,403	4,639,140	1,153,115	3.46	66.1
2000	estimate	173,918,738	4,671,061	1,156,983	3.40	66.4
2001	estimate	177,219,776	4,724,305	1,163,449	3.34	66.8
2002	estimate	180,526,559	4,774,017	1,173,476	3.29	67.0
2003	estimate	183,863,900	4,862,645	1,204,224	3.27	67.0
2004	estimate	187,135,359	4,953,369	1,241,310	3.25	67.0
2005	estimate	190,551,501	5,071,720	1,253,286	3.24	67.3
2006	estimate	194,016,118	5,185,324	1,226,262	3.23	68.1
2007	estimate	197,517,462	5,329,804	1,232,752	3.25	68.4
2008	estimate	201,140,912	5,458,097	1,256,422	3.26	68.6
2009	estimate	205,001,856	5,597,779	1,257,662	3.28	69.0
2010	estimate	209,006,734	5,750,832	1,275,437	3.32	69.3
2011	estimate	212,871,781	5,845,490	1,297,133	3.33	69.4
2012	estimate	216,536,526	6,000,133	1,304,304	3.38	69.8
2013	estimate	220,894,657	6,125,601	1,324,030	3.40	70.0
2014	estimate	225,554,457	6,221,901	1,335,689	3.41	70.3
2015	estimate	230,317,345	6,316,489	1,351,440	3.42	70.5
2016	estimate	235,021,048	6,254,214	1,363,595	3.35	70.8
2017	estimate	239,857,170	6,275,083	1,373,552	3.32	71.1
2018	estimate	245,039,162	6,082,362	1,387,524	3.18	71.3
2019	estimate	249,756,509	6,001,066	1,405,557	3.10	71.5
2020	estimate	254,186,153	5,989,923	1,640,687	3.07	70.2
2021	estimate	258,412,796	5,887,504	1,722,044	2.99	69.8
2022	estimate	262,550,984	5,905,950	1,491,433	2.97	71.7
2023	estimate	266,888,866	5,924,669	1,499,175	2.95	72.0
2024	estimate	270,193,344	5,903,446	1,522,659	2.92	72.2
2025	projection	274,069,333	5,870,648	1,545,504	2.88	72.5
2026	projection	278,535,176	5,884,315	1,576,261	2.85	72.7
2027	projection	282,945,767	5,896,625	1,613,119	2.82	72.8
2028	projection	286,992,751	5,899,146	1,648,982	2.79	73.0
2029	projection	291,007,962	5,912,046	1,685,616	2.76	73.2
2030	projection	294,995,892	5,926,026	1,724,749	2.72	73.4
2031	projection	298,964,091	5,943,136	1,764,084	2.69	73.5
2032	projection	302,914,897	5,975,096	1,804,591	2.66	73.7
2033	projection	306,861,651	6,006,373	1,846,092	2.63	73.9
2034	projection	310,810,371	6,052,041	1,888,963	2.61	74.0
2035	projection	314,756,967	6,087,851	1,932,234	2.58	74.2
2036	projection	318,700,615	6,124,741	1,975,724	2.55	74.4
2037	projection	322,626,038	6,167,519	2,019,734	2.53	74.6
2038	projection	326,560,337	6,211,631	2,065,268	2.51	74.7
2039	projection	330,467,607	6,251,607	2,109,094	2.49	74.9
2040	projection	334,372,422	6,284,372	2,154,215	2.47	75.1
2041	projection	338,255,739	6,305,856	2,200,486	2.45	75.2
2042	projection	342,133,281	6,320,476	2,245,700	2.44	75.4
2043	projection	345,968,537	6,326,371	2,292,276	2.42	75.5
2044	projection	349,767,642	6,318,589	2,338,136	2.40	75.7
2045	projection	353,517,197	6,303,184	2,385,007	2.38	75.9
2046	projection	357,209,423	6,285,626	2,431,564	2.36	76.0
2047	projection	360,820,938	6,271,660	2,478,334	2.35	76.2
2048	projection	364,373,664	6,254,809	2,525,423	2.34	76.3
2049	projection	367,874,151	6,232,002	2,572,228	2.32	76.5
2050	projection	371,328,642	6,212,568	2,620,269	2.31	76.6
2051	projection	374,722,601	6,193,696	2,669,098	2.30	76.8
2052	projection	378,028,791	6,172,277	2,717,729	2.29	76.9
2053	projection	381,268,053	6,151,984	2,768,274	2.28	77.1
2054	projection	384,431,938	6,134,232	2,817,278	2.27	77.2
2055	projection	387,539,862	6,117,429	2,867,270	2.26	77.3
2056	projection	390,556,080	6,097,327	2,917,500	2.25	77.5
2057	projection	393,483,313	6,078,555	2,969,724	2.24	77.6
2058	projection	396,342,496	6,062,009	3,021,898	2.23	77.8
2059	projection	399,140,234	6,047,303	3,072,560	2.22	77.9
2060	projection	401,862,483	6,035,126	3,125,480	2.21	78.0
2061	projection	404,508,986	6,021,656	3,178,328	2.19	78.2
2062	projection	407,093,607	6,012,109	3,230,643	2.18	78.3
2063	projection	409,644,951	6,000,749	3,282,820	2.17	78.5
2064	projection	412,119,091	5,994,393	3,335,354	2.16	78.6
2065	projection	414,551,327	5,986,575	3,385,648	2.15	78.7
2066	projection	416,884,164	5,983,975	3,437,744	2.14	78.8
2067	projection	419,203,140	5,978,985	3,486,638	2.13	79.0
2068	projection	421,462,386	5,973,113	3,534,494	2.12	79.1
2069	projection	423,638,235	5,964,090	3,582,337	2.11	79.3
2070	projection	425,773,642	5,953,858	3,628,879	2.10	79.4
2071	projection	427,826,640	5,943,674	3,672,992	2.09	79.5
2072	projection	429,871,975	5,932,874	3,716,297	2.09	79.6
2073	projection	431,878,236	5,922,630	3,757,505	2.08	79.8
2074	projection	433,803,418	5,904,736	3,796,771	2.07	79.9
2075	projection	435,682,201	5,883,658	3,836,323	2.06	80.0
2076	projection	437,500,394	5,866,624	3,875,335	2.06	80.1
2077	projection	439,241,342	5,842,497	3,912,636	2.05	80.3
2078	projection	440,930,652	5,818,306	3,946,492	2.05	80.4
2079	projection	442,567,127	5,794,585	3,979,486	2.04	80.5
2080	projection	444,139,341	5,764,564	4,013,624	2.03	80.7
2081	projection	445,637,132	5,737,045	4,045,591	2.03	80.8
2082	projection	447,073,914	5,708,968	4,077,119	2.02	80.9
2083	projection	448,461,250	5,680,019	4,109,760	2.02	81.0
2084	projection	449,810,944	5,655,189	4,143,194	2.01	81.2
2085	projection	451,117,069	5,626,488	4,177,261	2.00	81.3
2086	projection	452,344,439	5,597,572	4,211,333	2.00	81.4
2087	projection	453,519,032	5,570,182	4,246,465	1.99	81.5
2088	projection	454,633,443	5,541,666	4,283,126	1.99	81.7
2089	projection	455,661,078	5,515,879	4,319,816	1.98	81.8
2090	projection	456,604,035	5,485,692	4,357,119	1.98	81.9
2091	projection	457,478,785	5,459,268	4,399,278	1.97	82.0
2092	projection	458,285,034	5,434,919	4,440,868	1.97	82.2
2093	projection	459,049,922	5,407,596	4,484,728	1.96	82.3
2094	projection	459,743,451	5,378,250	4,527,976	1.95	82.4
2095	projection	460,312,025	5,346,196	4,572,968	1.94	82.5
2096	projection	460,856,308	5,321,189	4,618,267	1.94	82.6
2097	projection	461,306,060	5,296,314	4,662,328	1.93	82.8
2098	projection	461,712,584	5,274,999	4,707,220	1.93	82.9
2099	projection	462,052,589	5,252,206	4,751,999	1.92	83.0
2100	projection	462,313,427	5,228,203	4,794,945	1.92	83.1

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Northern Africa

Northern 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	Egypt	114,535,772	42.7%	201,895,183
2	Sudan	50,042,790	18.6%	136,890,755
3	Algeria	46,164,219	17.2%	64,487,528
4	Morocco	37,712,505	14.0%	37,884,370
5	Tunisia	12,200,431	4.5%	10,652,235
6	Libya	7,305,659	2.7%	9,783,569
7	Western Sahara	579,729	0.22%	831,294

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

Northern Africa: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	2,953,220	2,827,750
1	2,941,300	2,819,150
2	2,934,330	2,811,790
3	2,919,780	2,796,980
4	2,905,400	2,784,340
5	2,920,890	2,800,910
6	2,943,490	2,823,620
7	2,961,580	2,842,260
8	3,027,550	2,906,310
9	3,068,260	2,945,650
10	3,074,650	2,951,860
11	3,062,760	2,939,800
12	3,013,080	2,891,020
13	2,951,820	2,831,380
14	2,872,770	2,754,180
15	2,805,610	2,688,150
16	2,740,150	2,624,560
17	2,658,150	2,547,500
18	2,576,420	2,473,240
19	2,491,560	2,396,490
20	2,410,410	2,324,070
21	2,338,410	2,261,290
22	2,278,560	2,207,350
23	2,234,630	2,163,100
24	2,203,930	2,128,830
25	2,175,580	2,099,070
26	2,142,620	2,069,090
27	2,113,450	2,044,740
28	2,099,400	2,027,590
29	2,084,070	2,008,520
30	2,062,010	1,989,430
31	2,051,800	1,982,140
32	2,047,300	1,980,390
33	2,042,580	1,978,630
34	2,033,640	1,974,600
35	2,020,390	1,968,010
36	2,002,640	1,959,670
37	1,982,280	1,949,240
38	1,959,940	1,936,600
39	1,932,400	1,919,670
40	1,900,100	1,895,200
41	1,862,280	1,858,700
42	1,819,160	1,813,900
43	1,772,100	1,766,380
44	1,724,860	1,719,760
45	1,681,140	1,676,910
46	1,631,450	1,628,540
47	1,569,350	1,570,150
48	1,507,620	1,513,210
49	1,454,880	1,464,250
50	1,405,010	1,415,720
51	1,355,470	1,364,580
52	1,309,090	1,316,450
53	1,271,720	1,278,160
54	1,236,200	1,241,010
55	1,193,750	1,198,850
56	1,151,200	1,160,440
57	1,106,290	1,122,510
58	1,060,190	1,084,350
59	1,019,280	1,050,920
60	980,618	1,017,730
61	943,975	984,439
62	903,999	947,508
63	858,406	905,367
64	812,598	862,132
65	768,708	819,574
66	725,498	778,395
67	680,091	735,666
68	636,792	695,011
69	596,210	657,544
70	553,026	617,158
71	508,840	573,721
72	463,986	528,275
73	418,440	482,408
74	373,935	437,527
75	330,208	392,896
76	287,778	347,263
77	248,914	307,478
78	213,814	275,924
79	180,647	243,903
80	150,637	210,296
81	125,256	178,568
82	104,452	151,130
83	87,718	128,992
84	72,792	109,630
85	59,296	91,666
86	47,951	76,206
87	38,278	63,044
88	29,965	51,415
89	22,772	40,723
90	16,820	31,393
91	12,196	23,851
92	8,654	17,724
93	5,960	12,744
94	3,981	8,886
95	2,568	5,994
96	1,600	3,908
97	962	2,470
98	556	1,510
99	309	884
100+	330	1,052

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Northern 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 Northern Africa

On the UN's projection, Northern Africa will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2095: 280,682,000 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 167,221,000.

100 aged 15–64

52 children

9 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: one stripe a year from 1950 to 2100. A stripe takes colour in a year when fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people of working age, and stays grey otherwise; hatching means the year is projected.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Northern Africa, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Northern Africa loses 344,131 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 57,536 a year more leaving than arriving.

one square = 10,000 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.

Across the counted years, 1950 to 2023, its biggest single-year gain was 283,081 (1980); its biggest loss, 1,121,000 (2023).

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 Northern Africa

Of every 100 babies born in Northern Africa in 2023, 8 had a mother under 20, 73 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 19 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 17 under 20 and 16 aged 35 or older.

1950
17 · 67 · 16

2023
8 · 73 · 19

2050 · projected
6 · 74 · 20

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: 5,924,669
Average age when women have a baby: 29.3 years; 29.1 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 38; 155 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Northern Africa by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	40,210	33,634	20,667	10,827	5,949	1,583
15–19	397,026	535,404	455,158	451,201	348,985	159,141
20–24	668,408	1,126,194	1,240,278	1,385,252	1,262,834	800,578
25–29	603,296	996,053	1,271,152	1,678,351	1,908,362	1,654,940
30–34	443,453	663,330	944,296	1,289,682	1,459,399	1,462,878
35–39	266,533	425,202	527,212	784,939	859,390	825,829
40–44	121,209	193,359	178,127	277,027	300,179	274,168
45–49	26,778	45,222	32,734	45,348	63,766	47,253
50–54	1,357	2,229	1,437	2,042	3,704	1,833
All babies	2,568,270	4,020,627	4,671,061	5,924,669	6,212,568	5,228,203

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 7 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.