UN country group · UN WPP 2024

Sub-Saharan Africa population

Sub-Saharan Africa population now

1,311,803,293

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: 1,212,229,420

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 1.30424 billion
Median age: 19.6
Aged 65+: 3.3%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 500,000 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

Sub-Saharan Africa in numbers

Sub-Saharan Africa had 1,212,229,420 people in mid-2023, 15.0% of the world's people. That is 6.8 times its 1950 population of 178 million.

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 3.35 billion.

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

The median age was 19.0 in 1950 and 19.1 in 2023; the projection has 35.3 in 2100. 3.2% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 13.7% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is still growing in 2100 in the medium projection.

Population, mid-2023: 1,212,229,420
Share of the world, 2023: 15.0%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +2.54% · +30,065,694 people
Births, 2023: 40,139,221
Deaths, 2023: 9,841,660
Net migration, 2023: +684,709
Children per woman, 2023: 4.32
Median age, 2023: 19.1 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 62.1 years
Population, mid-1950: 177,731,062
Projected, mid-2050: 2,093,621,996
Projected, mid-2100: 3,351,458,670

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections01 bn2 bn3 bn4 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: Sub-Saharan Africa, 1950–2100

Sub-Saharan 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	175,982,440	8,310,284	4,757,563	6.42	37.2
1951	estimate	179,479,684	8,505,194	4,777,654	6.43	37.6
1952	estimate	183,128,606	8,701,084	4,809,824	6.44	37.9
1953	estimate	186,898,799	8,907,831	4,844,629	6.45	38.3
1954	estimate	190,751,518	9,107,788	4,878,552	6.47	38.7
1955	estimate	194,787,875	9,317,466	4,917,739	6.48	39.1
1956	estimate	198,989,463	9,535,971	4,958,712	6.50	39.5
1957	estimate	203,368,011	9,761,802	5,134,598	6.52	39.1
1958	estimate	207,786,777	9,988,096	5,182,970	6.53	39.5
1959	estimate	212,269,549	10,216,175	5,095,607	6.55	40.5
1960	estimate	217,227,851	10,466,758	5,178,507	6.57	40.7
1961	estimate	222,413,395	10,727,818	5,250,890	6.58	41.0
1962	estimate	227,813,072	11,002,360	5,290,401	6.60	41.5
1963	estimate	233,433,701	11,275,103	5,372,738	6.61	41.8
1964	estimate	239,258,299	11,556,960	5,438,459	6.63	42.1
1965	estimate	245,356,603	11,849,841	5,530,494	6.64	42.3
1966	estimate	251,667,328	12,171,342	5,667,850	6.66	42.4
1967	estimate	258,158,410	12,485,562	5,741,893	6.68	42.7
1968	estimate	264,940,937	12,811,589	5,780,267	6.69	43.2
1969	estimate	272,009,351	13,150,331	5,876,991	6.70	43.4
1970	estimate	279,252,376	13,497,627	5,927,804	6.72	43.9
1971	estimate	286,814,088	13,873,636	5,997,240	6.74	44.3
1972	estimate	294,520,154	14,235,184	6,155,018	6.75	44.3
1973	estimate	302,425,920	14,605,733	6,158,648	6.76	45.0
1974	estimate	310,861,677	15,026,046	6,285,451	6.78	45.2
1975	estimate	319,656,099	15,455,547	6,374,711	6.79	45.5
1976	estimate	328,715,792	15,867,779	6,357,194	6.79	46.3
1977	estimate	338,014,789	16,295,389	6,426,082	6.79	46.7
1978	estimate	347,343,301	16,733,681	6,520,423	6.80	47.0
1979	estimate	357,947,361	17,216,683	6,598,828	6.78	47.5
1980	estimate	368,526,037	17,670,714	6,701,454	6.77	47.8
1981	estimate	379,127,967	18,105,617	6,804,647	6.74	48.0
1982	estimate	390,832,180	18,592,846	6,917,893	6.72	48.3
1983	estimate	402,975,294	19,107,405	7,349,818	6.68	47.6
1984	estimate	414,632,880	19,538,377	7,503,536	6.64	47.6
1985	estimate	427,043,786	20,003,330	7,601,900	6.59	48.0
1986	estimate	439,836,264	20,442,994	7,719,736	6.54	48.2
1987	estimate	452,865,927	20,915,467	7,697,594	6.49	48.8
1988	estimate	466,416,230	21,365,507	8,013,130	6.44	48.6
1989	estimate	479,724,995	21,810,559	7,950,530	6.38	49.3
1990	estimate	493,690,625	22,237,220	8,179,611	6.30	49.1
1991	estimate	507,621,931	22,693,296	8,469,139	6.24	48.9
1992	estimate	521,548,794	23,148,213	8,697,386	6.18	48.8
1993	estimate	536,041,128	23,649,090	8,729,181	6.12	49.2
1994	estimate	551,121,178	24,031,231	9,651,755	6.06	46.9
1995	estimate	565,363,514	24,713,731	8,954,686	6.00	49.7
1996	estimate	581,081,976	25,241,325	9,165,181	5.94	49.7
1997	estimate	596,657,108	25,705,464	9,291,845	5.86	49.9
1998	estimate	612,623,942	26,205,798	9,588,616	5.81	49.6
1999	estimate	629,325,460	26,871,664	9,523,083	5.77	50.3
2000	estimate	646,261,510	27,487,242	9,494,168	5.74	51.0
2001	estimate	663,765,032	28,090,914	9,575,508	5.69	51.3
2002	estimate	681,868,808	28,669,515	9,631,081	5.65	51.7
2003	estimate	700,562,856	29,302,251	9,639,445	5.61	52.3
2004	estimate	719,906,341	29,993,588	9,619,704	5.58	52.9
2005	estimate	739,963,236	30,737,648	9,629,818	5.56	53.4
2006	estimate	760,561,909	31,411,631	9,621,223	5.52	54.0
2007	estimate	781,768,802	32,029,477	9,571,918	5.48	54.7
2008	estimate	803,684,022	32,764,966	9,525,532	5.45	55.3
2009	estimate	826,303,775	33,337,692	9,749,879	5.38	55.3
2010	estimate	849,242,700	33,934,661	9,477,558	5.32	56.5
2011	estimate	873,311,776	34,510,580	9,646,217	5.25	56.7
2012	estimate	897,577,120	35,001,928	9,437,937	5.17	57.7
2013	estimate	922,678,604	35,460,582	9,436,302	5.09	58.2
2014	estimate	948,432,870	35,973,687	9,591,130	5.01	58.4
2015	estimate	974,136,006	36,344,181	9,633,543	4.93	58.8
2016	estimate	1,000,676,591	36,704,683	9,677,163	4.84	59.1
2017	estimate	1,026,862,117	37,127,979	9,757,270	4.77	59.5
2018	estimate	1,054,045,780	37,543,933	9,622,811	4.68	60.2
2019	estimate	1,081,978,082	37,964,747	9,715,461	4.60	60.5
2020	estimate	1,110,090,241	38,383,735	9,891,730	4.52	60.6
2021	estimate	1,138,953,149	39,005,030	10,374,988	4.45	60.1
2022	estimate	1,167,589,175	39,563,281	10,136,722	4.39	61.1
2023	estimate	1,196,738,277	40,139,221	9,841,660	4.32	62.1
2024	estimate	1,227,720,563	40,717,612	10,000,245	4.25	62.3
2025	projection	1,258,298,458	41,209,589	10,157,373	4.18	62.5
2026	projection	1,288,832,191	41,677,588	10,309,726	4.11	62.7
2027	projection	1,319,657,384	42,121,865	10,464,584	4.04	62.9
2028	projection	1,350,928,236	42,590,280	10,626,726	3.97	63.1
2029	projection	1,382,426,020	43,051,864	10,794,584	3.91	63.3
2030	projection	1,414,224,185	43,463,669	10,964,533	3.84	63.5
2031	projection	1,446,242,764	43,883,206	11,138,584	3.78	63.6
2032	projection	1,478,560,909	44,249,270	11,314,061	3.71	63.8
2033	projection	1,511,018,258	44,625,391	11,492,563	3.65	64.0
2034	projection	1,543,640,048	44,978,354	11,675,182	3.59	64.2
2035	projection	1,576,489,746	45,304,339	11,863,709	3.53	64.4
2036	projection	1,609,543,049	45,641,472	12,058,097	3.47	64.5
2037	projection	1,642,689,427	45,905,318	12,252,065	3.42	64.7
2038	projection	1,675,901,858	46,226,038	12,450,805	3.36	64.9
2039	projection	1,709,207,972	46,532,181	12,656,830	3.31	65.1
2040	projection	1,742,603,997	46,824,439	12,865,934	3.27	65.2
2041	projection	1,776,074,612	47,079,796	13,079,517	3.22	65.4
2042	projection	1,809,558,896	47,349,053	13,295,205	3.17	65.6
2043	projection	1,843,064,264	47,610,612	13,518,768	3.13	65.7
2044	projection	1,876,626,440	47,857,161	13,751,131	3.09	65.9
2045	projection	1,910,155,439	48,061,030	13,982,326	3.05	66.0
2046	projection	1,943,601,377	48,301,778	14,224,299	3.01	66.2
2047	projection	1,977,040,672	48,498,571	14,464,785	2.97	66.4
2048	projection	2,010,500,420	48,695,084	14,712,474	2.94	66.5
2049	projection	2,043,854,344	48,875,480	14,967,341	2.90	66.7
2050	projection	2,077,071,379	49,048,737	15,227,086	2.87	66.8
2051	projection	2,110,172,614	49,218,395	15,489,698	2.83	67.0
2052	projection	2,143,321,033	49,395,580	15,760,976	2.81	67.2
2053	projection	2,176,284,877	49,530,085	16,035,757	2.77	67.3
2054	projection	2,209,060,695	49,652,079	16,314,205	2.74	67.5
2055	projection	2,241,728,421	49,771,184	16,599,972	2.72	67.6
2056	projection	2,274,279,585	49,886,307	16,891,011	2.69	67.8
2057	projection	2,306,645,974	49,999,103	17,190,750	2.66	67.9
2058	projection	2,338,742,950	50,118,804	17,489,664	2.64	68.1
2059	projection	2,370,655,120	50,217,867	17,795,208	2.62	68.2
2060	projection	2,402,534,418	50,301,017	18,103,879	2.59	68.4
2061	projection	2,434,088,291	50,375,756	18,418,802	2.57	68.5
2062	projection	2,465,476,179	50,428,449	18,743,616	2.54	68.7
2063	projection	2,496,414,272	50,461,816	19,073,731	2.52	68.8
2064	projection	2,527,063,580	50,486,673	19,402,881	2.50	68.9
2065	projection	2,557,447,434	50,513,403	19,739,015	2.48	69.1
2066	projection	2,587,538,802	50,542,205	20,085,527	2.46	69.2
2067	projection	2,617,236,893	50,559,334	20,432,224	2.44	69.4
2068	projection	2,646,649,791	50,561,924	20,785,301	2.42	69.5
2069	projection	2,675,631,982	50,555,600	21,145,418	2.40	69.7
2070	projection	2,704,275,382	50,535,462	21,511,625	2.39	69.8
2071	projection	2,732,554,933	50,520,834	21,879,915	2.37	70.0
2072	projection	2,760,452,658	50,489,628	22,257,784	2.35	70.1
2073	projection	2,787,934,078	50,454,976	22,642,865	2.34	70.2
2074	projection	2,814,961,573	50,402,953	23,035,981	2.32	70.4
2075	projection	2,841,621,569	50,352,612	23,428,483	2.31	70.5
2076	projection	2,867,820,365	50,298,314	23,826,622	2.29	70.6
2077	projection	2,893,501,909	50,235,655	24,236,003	2.27	70.8
2078	projection	2,918,849,901	50,158,388	24,643,177	2.26	70.9
2079	projection	2,943,691,527	50,084,646	25,058,007	2.25	71.0
2080	projection	2,967,933,041	50,005,791	25,477,122	2.23	71.2
2081	projection	2,991,691,776	49,926,490	25,898,871	2.22	71.3
2082	projection	3,014,906,719	49,872,125	26,320,844	2.21	71.4
2083	projection	3,037,693,320	49,784,836	26,740,616	2.20	71.6
2084	projection	3,059,982,033	49,702,393	27,170,244	2.19	71.7
2085	projection	3,081,665,993	49,602,623	27,599,159	2.17	71.8
2086	projection	3,102,968,175	49,494,431	28,025,285	2.16	71.9
2087	projection	3,123,813,777	49,387,862	28,447,095	2.15	72.1
2088	projection	3,143,959,593	49,285,475	28,860,330	2.14	72.2
2089	projection	3,163,505,822	49,163,087	29,274,576	2.13	72.3
2090	projection	3,182,684,124	49,033,723	29,684,021	2.12	72.5
2091	projection	3,201,324,315	48,915,048	30,085,265	2.11	72.6
2092	projection	3,219,319,349	48,771,989	30,484,015	2.10	72.7
2093	projection	3,236,749,480	48,642,320	30,880,234	2.09	72.8
2094	projection	3,253,672,329	48,515,326	31,264,376	2.08	73.0
2095	projection	3,270,134,832	48,372,496	31,643,582	2.07	73.1
2096	projection	3,286,019,563	48,227,301	32,017,190	2.06	73.2
2097	projection	3,301,523,306	48,078,879	32,387,997	2.06	73.4
2098	projection	3,316,422,948	47,930,581	32,755,498	2.05	73.5
2099	projection	3,330,848,526	47,765,506	33,105,291	2.04	73.6
2100	projection	3,344,728,430	47,608,470	33,453,570	2.03	73.8

AGG · membership

What Sub-Saharan Africa is

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the UN's analytical groupings. This dataset carries the group's totals, not its membership, so its countries are not listed here.

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

Sub-Saharan Africa: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	20,223,700	19,701,200
1	19,687,700	19,229,700
2	19,284,600	18,848,200
3	18,882,900	18,459,000
4	18,508,400	18,108,000
5	18,133,300	17,753,800
6	17,776,800	17,401,600
7	17,463,800	17,095,000
8	17,145,500	16,784,400
9	16,831,100	16,479,800
10	16,539,800	16,199,800
11	16,270,300	15,943,200
12	15,978,000	15,659,800
13	15,678,200	15,363,000
14	15,389,900	15,079,500
15	15,077,400	14,778,700
16	14,735,500	14,451,800
17	14,375,900	14,109,600
18	14,001,800	13,756,900
19	13,619,500	13,396,000
20	13,221,100	13,019,900
21	12,783,800	12,607,800
22	12,337,500	12,185,900
23	11,911,800	11,783,600
24	11,505,400	11,400,300
25	11,111,300	11,028,200
26	10,714,200	10,652,800
27	10,306,800	10,268,100
28	9,934,240	9,920,360
29	9,625,690	9,636,010
30	9,336,910	9,367,110
31	9,016,410	9,063,460
32	8,708,100	8,770,610
33	8,430,500	8,506,580
34	8,150,670	8,237,830
35	7,886,260	7,981,360
36	7,636,170	7,738,770
37	7,383,330	7,492,770
38	7,132,360	7,244,900
39	6,897,630	7,016,050
40	6,664,890	6,787,840
41	6,425,910	6,547,290
42	6,189,740	6,308,250
43	5,954,590	6,070,810
44	5,724,580	5,840,630
45	5,498,070	5,615,090
46	5,273,820	5,393,330
47	5,040,700	5,169,190
48	4,790,380	4,932,520
49	4,547,900	4,701,740
50	4,322,740	4,490,390
51	4,106,890	4,289,480
52	3,899,360	4,094,480
53	3,706,660	3,914,020
54	3,526,110	3,746,610
55	3,353,750	3,587,420
56	3,187,610	3,434,150
57	3,021,780	3,281,040
58	2,856,060	3,126,870
59	2,695,670	2,977,370
60	2,544,410	2,837,830
61	2,404,360	2,710,780
62	2,269,300	2,587,820
63	2,135,350	2,462,820
64	2,003,560	2,337,020
65	1,870,510	2,208,280
66	1,743,600	2,082,250
67	1,623,000	1,958,160
68	1,501,460	1,829,400
69	1,383,750	1,702,210
70	1,272,000	1,581,000
71	1,165,790	1,464,780
72	1,063,660	1,350,360
73	963,538	1,235,950
74	866,714	1,124,590
75	771,621	1,014,940
76	685,979	911,258
77	605,738	813,041
78	532,687	724,398
79	465,832	642,612
80	399,656	562,126
81	339,746	487,970
82	286,197	420,924
83	238,805	360,754
84	196,257	305,951
85	158,902	256,888
86	126,999	213,768
87	99,974	176,118
88	77,438	143,201
89	58,680	114,189
90	43,606	89,506
91	32,168	69,702
92	23,704	54,150
93	17,276	41,490
94	12,316	31,012
95	8,644	22,702
96	5,994	16,317
97	4,115	11,520
98	2,800	8,010
99	1,875	5,454
100+	3,476	10,579

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Sub-Saharan 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 Sub-Saharan Africa

In Sub-Saharan Africa the number of people aged 15–64 is still growing in 2100, the last year the UN projects. In 2023 there were 676,574,000 of them.

100 aged 15–64

74 children

6 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: the orange squares are 100 people aged 15–64 in 2023, and the rows below are how many children (teal) and how many people aged 65 or older (violet) lived alongside them.

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 Sub-Saharan Africa, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Sub-Saharan Africa gains 39,971 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 72,322 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 10,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: left to right is age, from babies to 100. Blue squares above the line are ages at which more people arrive than leave; orange squares below it, ages at which more leave than arrive. These are the UN's projection for 2020–2025. There is no record of migration by age before 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 684,709 (2023) and the most it lost was 841,979 (2016).

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 Sub-Saharan Africa

Of every 100 babies born in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, 16 had a mother under 20, 68 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 16 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 · 68 · 16

2050 · projected
12 · 72 · 16

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

How to read this: each block is 100 babies born in that year, one square each, coloured by how old the mother was. The numbers under a block are the three groups, youngest mothers first.

Babies born, 2023: 40,139,221
Average age when women have a baby: 28.9 years; 29.5 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 94; 136 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Sub-Saharan Africa by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	150,598	300,654	388,752	236,337	142,903	33,745
15–19	1,213,841	2,628,984	4,576,862	6,150,881	5,903,006	2,771,298
20–24	2,058,537	3,818,024	7,167,620	10,915,030	12,845,267	9,094,303
25–29	1,913,646	3,364,403	6,207,324	9,540,884	12,541,692	13,426,717
30–34	1,458,959	2,566,110	4,644,844	7,055,832	9,651,400	12,636,786
35–39	931,889	1,694,275	2,885,802	4,220,597	5,577,695	7,131,040
40–44	465,157	875,089	1,290,871	1,659,428	2,017,447	2,208,784
45–49	111,749	198,253	310,063	345,004	354,694	296,983
50–54	5,908	9,755	15,104	15,228	14,633	8,814
All babies	8,310,284	15,455,547	27,487,242	40,139,221	49,048,737	47,608,470

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 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.