Natural population growth rate in Nigeria

Nigeria: Natural population growth rate was 2.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
2.1%
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
45th
of 236 countries
All-time high
2.9%
in 1978
All-time low
1.8%
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Natural population growth rate in Nigeria, 1950–2023

0123195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Nigeria recorded 2.1% for natural population growth rate in 2023.

That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 20.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, natural population growth rate in Nigeria peaked at 2.9% in 1978 and was at its lowest, 1.8%, in 1950.

That places Nigeria 45th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 1.9% 1.8% 2.0% 10
1960s 2.1% 2.0% 2.2% 10
1970s 2.7% 2.3% 2.9% 10
1980s 2.7% 2.6% 2.9% 10
1990s 2.5% 2.5% 2.6% 10
2000s 2.7% 2.6% 2.8% 10
2010s 2.5% 2.2% 2.8% 10
2020s 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 4

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 42 Comoros 2.1% compare
  2. 43 Gabon 2.1% compare
  3. 44 Pakistan 2.1% compare
  4. 46 French Guiana 2.0% compare
  5. 47 Uzbekistan 2.0% compare
  6. 48 Kenya 2.0% compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is natural population growth rate in Nigeria?
Natural population growth rate in Nigeria was 2.1% in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest natural population growth rate recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 2.9% in 1978.
What is the lowest natural population growth rate recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 1.8% in 1950.
How does Nigeria rank for natural population growth rate?
Nigeria ranks 45th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is natural population growth rate rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Natural population growth rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Natural population growth rate
Unit
%
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Births minus deaths, as a share of the population. This is the part of population change that comes only from births and deaths, ignoring migration.