Urban population growth in Nigeria
Nigeria: Urban population growth was 3.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Nigeria, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 3.3% for urban population growth in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.1% on the previous year and down 16.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Nigeria peaked at 6.0% in 1978 and was at its lowest, 3.3%, in 2025.
Nigeria ranks 36th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.9% | 9 |
| 1970s | 5.8% | 5.6% | 6.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.3% | 5.0% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.7% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.0% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.4% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More climate change data for Nigeria
- Population growth 2.1% (2025)
- Population, total 237.53 million (2025)
- Urban population 151.48 million (2025)
- Urban population 63.8% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 17.6% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 12.47 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 5.6% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 13.9% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 11.6% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 0.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Nigeria?
- Urban population growth in Nigeria was 3.3% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 6.0% in 1978.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.3% in 2025.
- How does Nigeria rank for urban population growth?
- Nigeria ranks 36th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.