Nigeria vs Russia: Population

Nigeria
227.88 million people
in 2023
Russia
145.44 million people
in 2023
Nigeria rank
6th
Russia rank
9th

Population over time

  • Nigeria
  • Russia
050.0M100.0M150.0M200.0M250.0M100015112023

How they compare

Nigeria currently reports 227.88 million people against 145.44 million people in Russia, a difference of 82.44 million people.

That makes Nigeria's figure about 1.6 times Russia's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Nigeria ahead.

Nigeria ranks 6th and Russia ranks 9th of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Nigeria averaged higher in 13 and Russia in 27.

Head to head by decade

Decade Nigeria Russia Difference Ahead
1000s 7.00 million people 2.52 million people 4.48 million people Nigeria
1100s 7.50 million people 3.78 million people 3.72 million people Nigeria
1200s 8.00 million people 5.67 million people 2.33 million people Nigeria
1300s 9.00 million people 5.87 million people 3.13 million people Nigeria
1400s 10.00 million people 5.87 million people 4.13 million people Nigeria
1500s 11.00 million people 7.56 million people 3.44 million people Nigeria
1600s 14.00 million people 9.45 million people 4.55 million people Nigeria
1700s 18.00 million people 10.71 million people 7.29 million people Nigeria
1710s 18.80 million people 13.04 million people 5.76 million people Nigeria
1720s 18.94 million people 15.36 million people 3.57 million people Nigeria
1730s 19.09 million people 17.69 million people 1.39 million people Nigeria
1740s 19.24 million people 20.02 million people 777,000 people Russia
1750s 19.41 million people 22.35 million people 2.94 million people Russia
1760s 19.58 million people 24.67 million people 5.09 million people Russia
1770s 19.77 million people 27.00 million people 7.24 million people Russia
1780s 19.96 million people 29.33 million people 9.37 million people Russia
1790s 20.18 million people 31.66 million people 11.48 million people Russia
1800s 12.10 million people 31.30 million people 19.19 million people Russia
1810s 12.10 million people 31.53 million people 19.43 million people Russia
1820s 12.31 million people 32.97 million people 20.66 million people Russia
1830s 12.78 million people 35.83 million people 23.05 million people Russia
1840s 13.26 million people 39.27 million people 26.01 million people Russia
1850s 13.86 million people 43.03 million people 29.17 million people Russia
1860s 14.63 million people 47.10 million people 32.47 million people Russia
1870s 15.54 million people 51.51 million people 35.97 million people Russia
1880s 16.68 million people 56.38 million people 39.70 million people Russia
1890s 17.94 million people 61.72 million people 43.78 million people Russia
1900s 19.53 million people 67.56 million people 48.03 million people Russia
1910s 21.65 million people 73.93 million people 52.28 million people Russia
1920s 24.56 million people 81.02 million people 56.46 million people Russia
1930s 28.62 million people 88.82 million people 60.19 million people Russia
1940s 33.68 million people 97.37 million people 63.69 million people Russia
1950s 40.63 million people 110.56 million people 69.93 million people Russia
1960s 49.66 million people 125.61 million people 75.94 million people Russia
1970s 63.02 million people 133.89 million people 70.87 million people Russia
1980s 83.95 million people 143.21 million people 59.27 million people Russia
1990s 109.65 million people 148.28 million people 38.63 million people Russia
2000s 143.50 million people 145.00 million people 1.50 million people Russia
2010s 188.20 million people 145.20 million people 42.99 million people Nigeria
2020s 220.89 million people 145.81 million people 75.08 million people Nigeria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Nigeria or Russia?
Nigeria, at 227.88 million people against 145.44 million people in Russia as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Nigeria and Russia?
82.44 million people, with Nigeria ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Nigeria and Russia?
241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Nigeria and Russia rank globally for population?
Nigeria ranks 6th and Russia ranks 9th of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.