Nigeria Population

Quick facts about the population of Nigeria

Current population (as of Monday, September 24 2018)

198,397,635

Total area

923,770 km2 (356,670 mi2)

Population density

214.8 per km2 (556.3 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

1.03 (100,468,983 men to 97,938,258 women)

Median age

17.9 years

Life expectancy

47.6 years (46.8 - men, 48.4 - women)

Literacy

59.6 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters (countrymeters.info) based on the latest United Nations data)

Nigeria population 2018

During 2018 Nigeria population is projected to increased by 5,190,383 people and reach 199,805,437 in the beginning of 2019. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 5,258,499. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 68,115 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Nigeria to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2018

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Nigeria population in 2018 will be the following:

• 21,493 live births average per day (895.54 in an hour)
• 7,086 deaths average per day (295.26 in an hour)
• -187 emigrants average per day (-7.78 in an hour)

The population of Nigeria will be increased by 14,220 persons daily in 2018.

Demographics of Nigeria 2017

As of 1 January 2018, the population of Nigeria was estimated to be 194,615,054 people. This is an increase of 2.67 % (5,055,552 people) compared to population of 189,559,502 the year before. In 2017 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 5,121,898. Due to external migration, the population declined by 66,346. The sex ratio of the total population was 1.030 (1,030 males per 1 000 females) which is higher than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1 016 males to 1 000 females as of 2017.

Below are the key figures for Nigeria population in 2017:

• 7,641,144 live births
• 2,519,246 deaths
• Natural increase: 5,121,898 people
• Net migration: -66,346 people
• 98,745,569 males as of 31 December 2017
• 95,869,485 females as of 31 December 2017

Nigeria population density

Nigeria population density is 210.7 people per square kilometer (545.6/mi²) as of September 2018. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Nigeria divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Nigeria. The total area of Nigeria is 923,770 km² (356,670 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Nigeria

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	97,810,034	49.3
Islam	96,818,046	48.8
Religiously Unaffiliated	991,988	0.5

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010 .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Monday, September 24 2018).

Nigeria age structure

As of the beginning of 2018 according to our estimates Nigeria had the following population age distribution:

40.9

55.9

3.1

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 79,669,565 young people under 15 years old ( 40,721,254 males / 38,950,257 females)
• 108,871,554 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 55,541,190 males / 53,332,309 females)
• 6,073,936 persons above 64 years old ( 2,934,795 males / 3,137,195 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Nigeria population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Nigeria is 78.8 %.

As we can see the dependent part of population is comparable to the working part. It means that each working person in Nigeria must provide goods for himself and cover expenditure on one child or aged person additionally. The value of 78.8 % shows that the pressure on productive population in Nigeria is very high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Nigeria is 73.2 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Nigeria is 5.6 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Nigeria is 47.6 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 46.8 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 48.4 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 68,512,999 persons or 59.6% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Nigeria are able to read and write. Accordingly about 46,432,490 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 69.19% (40,458,949 persons). 18,017,036 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 49.68% (28,054,050 persons). 28,415,454 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 79.89% and 65.33% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 72.79%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .