Sub-Saharan Africa's cities now hold more people than Latin America's
Urban population by world region, millions, 2015 and 2025, World Bank estimates based on national urban definitions.
- 1. By 2100, more than 1 in 3 people will be African
- 2. Nearly half the world's under-25s will be African by 2100
- 3. DR Congo is projected to outgrow the US by 2100
- 4. Kinshasa will soon be bigger than Paris and London combined
- 5. Two-thirds of the world's mobile money moves in Africa
- 6. Volcanic heat makes nearly 45% of the power Kenya generates
- 7. Africa's solar imports more than doubled since early 2024
- 8. DR Congo mines three-quarters of the world's cobalt
- 9. Nearly two in three people in Africa are still offline
- 10. Africa formally recycles less than 1% of its e-waste
- 11. Ethiopia added over a third of Africa's new renewable power
- 12. Nigeria's cities now hold more people than Japan's
- 13. Sudan now has the world's most people displaced at home
- 14. Nigeria now has almost 25 million more people than Brazil
- 15. Six of the ten fastest-growing big cities are African
- 16. Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
- 17. Six in ten child deaths now happen in sub-Saharan Africa
- 18. Rwanda spread electricity faster than any country since 2014
- 19. Nigeria now eats more rice than Japan
- 20. More sub-Saharan Africans now have mobile money than bank accounts
- 21. Sub-Saharan Africa's cities now hold more people than Latin America's
- 22. DR Congo tripled its copper mining in ten years
People living in sub-Saharan Africa's towns and cities in 2025, up from 408m in 2015. Latin America's: 543m, up from 491m.
The year Africa south of the Sahara passed Latin America, the developing world's most urban region (530.0m vs 527.9m).
Sub-Saharan Africa's urban gain in 2025 alone, against Latin America's 5m and South Asia's 11m. It is now 15m behind South Asia.
the numbers & method
| 2015 (m) | 2025 (m) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 408 | 590 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 491 | 543 |
| South Asia | 502 | 606 |
| North America | 288 | 309 |
Claim types Estimate
Series SP.URB.TOTL 'Urban population', World Bank WDI (last updated 8 Oct 2026), read from the World Bank API for World Bank regions (all income levels). Based on UN World Urbanization Prospects shares and national definitions of 'urban', which differ by country; recent years are modelled estimates. Millions, 2015 → 2025: East Asia & Pacific 1,328.1 → 1,548.6; Europe & Central Asia 659.7 → 690.7; South Asia 501.8 → 605.7; Sub-Saharan Africa 408.2 → 590.2; Latin America & Caribbean 491.4 → 543.3; Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (World Bank's current region, includes Pakistan and Afghanistan) 372.4 → 463.3; North America 288.4 → 308.7. Sub-Saharan Africa vs Latin America & Caribbean: 2021 511.0 vs 523.5; 2022 530.0 vs 527.9; 2024 569.5 vs 538.2. 2025 annual gains (2024 → 2025): Sub-Saharan Africa +20.7m, Latin America +5.1m, South Asia +10.9m; gap to South Asia in 2025 15.5m. Gains and gaps are progrss calculations. Takeaway 2's 'most urban developing region': Latin America & Caribbean's urban share is 81.5% in 2025 (SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS), the highest of any World Bank region. The series counts towns as well as cities. Licence: World Bank, CC BY 4.0.
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