Mapped: The 50 Largest Cities in Africa by Population

Ranked: Africa’s 50 Most Populous Cities

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Africa is the world’s fastest-urbanizing continent, with hundreds of millions of people expected to move into cities over the coming decades.

This rapid growth has already produced some of the world’s largest metro areas, driven by population growth, rural-to-urban migration, and expanding economic opportunities.

This map ranks Africa’s 50 most populous cities in 2025, based on data from the UN World Urbanization Prospects 2025.

The Largest Cities in Africa by Population

Cairo, officially known as Al-Qahirah, is Africa’s most populous city with 25.6 million residents. Egypt’s capital is not only Africa’s largest city, but also ranks among the largest cities in the world.

The table below lists 50 of Africa’s most populous cities in 2025:

Rank	Country	City	2025 Population
1	Egypt	Al-Qahirah (Cairo)	25,566,000
2	Nigeria	Lagos	12,792,000
3	Angola	Luanda	11,370,000
4	DR Congo	Kinshasa	10,944,000
5	Tanzania	Dar es Salaam	7,795,000
6	Egypt	Alexandria	7,267,000
7	South Africa	Johannesburg	7,077,000
8	Sudan	Khartoum	6,809,000
9	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	6,706,000
10	Côte d’Ivoire	Abidjan	6,622,000
11	Kenya	Nairobi	6,134,000
12	Nigeria	Onitsha	5,628,000
13	Ghana	Accra	5,593,000
14	Cameroon	Yaoundé	5,106,000
15	Uganda	Kampala	4,881,000
16	Nigeria	Kano	4,840,000
17	South Africa	Cape Town	4,509,000
18	Morocco	Casablanca	4,457,000
19	Somalia	Mogadishu	4,399,000
20	Ghana	Kumasi	4,298,000
21	Mali	Bamako	4,245,000
22	Egypt	Luxor	4,188,000
23	Cameroon	Douala	4,105,000
24	Madagascar	Antananarivo	3,916,000
25	Senegal	Dakar	3,852,000
26	Nigeria	Owerri	3,833,000
27	Nigeria	Ibadan	3,721,000
28	Republic of the Congo	Brazzaville	3,656,000
29	DR Congo	Kasaï-Oriental	3,606,000
30	Zambia	Lusaka	3,511,000
31	Algeria	Algiers	3,246,000
32	Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	3,206,000
33	South Africa	Durban	3,178,000
34	Mozambique	Maputo	3,166,000
35	DR Congo	Lubumbashi	2,833,000
36	Guinea	Conakry (Coyah)	2,728,000
37	Benin	Cotonou	2,506,000
38	Tunisia	Tunis	2,473,000
39	Togo	Lomé	2,415,000
40	Nigeria	Port Harcourt	2,341,000
41	Zimbabwe	Harare	2,117,000
42	Egypt	Banha	2,089,000
43	Morocco	Rabat	2,069,000
44	Sierra Leone	Freetown	1,936,000
45	Chad	N’Djaména	1,935,000
46	DR Congo	Beni	1,924,000
47	Nigeria	Kaduna	1,890,000
48	Liberia	Monrovia	1,879,000
49	Nigeria	Benin City	1,845,000
50	South Africa	Pretoria	1,836,000

Nigeria’s Lagos ranks second with nearly 12.8 million residents, followed closely by Luanda in Angola and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These cities have expanded rapidly due to high birth rates and sustained migration from rural areas.

Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, appears nine times in the top 50. Egypt follows with four cities, while South Africa has four major metropolitan areas, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria.

East Africa also features prominently, with Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, and Kampala all ranking among the continent’s largest cities. Many of Africa’s urban areas are projected to double in size within the next 25 years.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-50-largest-cities-in-africa-by-population/