The Staggering Details Behind One African Nation’s Massive Population Boom

While the United States and many other Western nations experience either stagnation or a slight decline in their overall population, much of the African continent is seeing an opposite trend.

What’s happening

In much of the modern world, people are having fewer children and the average age of the population is creeping higher. This means that more people are dying than being born, thus the total number of people in a region is shrinking.

But with the number of people on Earth recently exceeding 8 billion for the first time ever, there are obviously some important exceptions.

That’s where Nigeria comes in:

• In 1982, the country’s population was under 80 million.
• It has since ballooned to about 225 million and is currently the world’s sixth-most populous country.
• That number is expected to reach 377 million by 2050.

While these numbers alone are staggering, it’s important to put them in a geographical context. Nigeria is roughly the size of Texas and is anticipated to rival the entire population of the United States in fewer than three decades.

More global changes

Nigeria isn’t the only country that has been growing at a rapid pace. India’s population has been ticking up and it recently became the most populous nation on Earth, pushing China down to the number two spot.

But elsewhere around the globe, the prospects are less rosy. In fact, many forecasts indicate that by the end of this century, nations including the U.S., Germany, China, and Japan could be experiencing a net population decline.

With an aging populace and fewer young people taking over the economy, there’s some serious concern about the ramifications of this trend.

Meanwhile, data indicates that due to steady birth rates and improved healthcare, about 7 in 10 Nigerians are under the age of 30.

Chris Agee August 21st, 2023

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