Largest cities in Nigeria 2021

Nigeria is the African country with the largest population, counting approximately 200 million people. As of 2021, the largest city of Nigeria is Lagos, which is also the largest city in whole Sub-Saharan Africa. This city counts nine million inhabitants, whereas the Nigerian city with the second largest population is Kano, in the North-West, with 3.6 million inhabitants. Lagos is the main financial, cultural, and educational center in the country.

Where Africa’s urban population is booming

The metropolitan area of Lagos is also among the largest urban agglomerations in the world. After Lagos, Africa’s most populated cities are Kinshasa, in Congo, and Cairo, in Egypt. However, Africa’s urban population is booming in other relatively smaller cities. For instance, the population of Bujumbura, in Burundi, could grow by 118 percent between 2020 and 2035, making it the fastest growing city in Africa and likely in the world. Similarly, Zinder, in Niger, could reach one million inhabitants by 2035, the second fastest growing city.

Demographic urban shift

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. In the next decades, this will increase, especially in Africa and Asia. In 2020, over 80 percent of the population in Northern America was living in urban areas, the highest share in the world. In Africa, instead, the degree of urbanization was about 40 percent, the lowest among all continents. Meeting the needs of a fast-growing population can be a challenge, especially in low-income countries. Therefore, there will be a growing necessity to implement policies to sustainably improve people’s lives in rural and urban areas.