Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Algiers, Algeria metro area from 1950 to 2025.

In 2023, Algiers was the city with the largest population in Algeria, with nearly 1.98 million inhabitants. The cities of Boumerdès and Oran followed with around 786,000 and 646,000 people, respectively. Most of the population is concentrated in the cities With an area of over 2.48 million square kilometers, Algeria is the largest country in Africa. Since the territory is predominantly desert, most of the population lives in the coastal areas by the Mediterranean Sea. This explains why the population density remains relatively low at around 18.6 inhabitants per square kilometer, although it is constantly increasing. In addition, due to internal migration from rural areas, as well as population growth, Algerian cities are becoming more populous and the urbanization rate in the country is increasing annually. In 2022, around 75 percent of the population lived in urban areas. Algeria’s population continues to grow Algeria ranks among the most populous countries in Africa, counting nearly 46 million inhabitants as of 2023. The total population has been increasing constantly and registered a growth rate of 1.63 percent in 2022. In the coming years, the population is forecast to reach around 49.6 million by 2029. The relatively high fertility rate, together with the rising life expectancy and declining mortality, would drive population growth in the country.

The total population of Algeria was estimated at approximately 46.63 million people in 2024. Following a continuous upward trend, the total population has risen by around 27.96 million people since 1980. Between 2024 and 2030, the total population will rise by around 4.06 million people, continuing its consistent upward trajectory.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

Algeria Population: Economically Active: Employed: Independent data was reported at 3,382,000.000 Person in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,236,000.000 Person for 2017. Algeria Population: Economically Active: Employed: Independent data is updated yearly, averaging 2,846,217.000 Person from Sep 2001 (Median) to 2018, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,382,000.000 Person in 2018 and a record low of 1,826,020.000 Person in 2001. Algeria Population: Economically Active: Employed: Independent data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Office of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Algeria – Table DZ.G003: Population: Economically Active.

The total population in Algeria was estimated at 46.8 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - Algeria Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Historical chart and dataset showing total population for Algeria by year from 1950 to 2025.

Key information about Algeria population

• The Algeria population reached 43.4 million people in Jun 2019, compared with the previously reported figure of 42.6 million people in Jun 2018
• The data reached an all-time high of 43.4 million people in Jun 2019 and a record low of 8.9 million people in Jun 1950

CEIC extends history for annual Population. The National Office of Statistics provides Mid-year Population. Population prior to 1970 is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population is in annual frequency, ending in June of each year

In 2023, people aged 25-64 years in Algeria were approximately 22.3 million and constituted the largest demographic group in the country. Instead, the lowest share of the population was represented by adults aged 65 years and older. From 2010 onwards, the total population of Algeria grew year by year, exceeding 45.9 million people in 2023. The number of children aged 0-14 years increased in the last decade, while there has been a drop in the young population aged 15-24 years.

Population, female (% of total population) in Algeria was reported at 48.99 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Algeria DZ: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 29,075,977.000 Person in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 28,637,951.000 Person for 2022. Algeria DZ: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 14,607,115.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29,075,977.000 Person in 2023 and a record low of 5,865,620.000 Person in 1960. Algeria DZ: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Algeria – Table DZ.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.;World Bank staff estimates using the World Bank's total population and age/sex distributions of the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.;Sum;

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) in Algeria was reported at 6.3769 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population ages 65 and above (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Population ages 15-64, male (% of male population) in Algeria was reported at 63.32 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population ages 15-64, male (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population density (people per sq. km of land area) in Algeria was reported at 19.09 sq. Km in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population density (people per sq. km) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Algeria (POPTOTDZA647NWDB) from 1960 to 2024 about Algeria and population.

Algeria Population: Male: Up to Age 4 data was reported at 2,418,312.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2,617,642.000 Person for 2019. Algeria Population: Male: Up to Age 4 data is updated yearly, averaging 1,899,500.000 Person from Jun 1999 (Median) to 2023, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,617,642.000 Person in 2019 and a record low of 1,490,000.000 Person in 2003. Algeria Population: Male: Up to Age 4 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Office of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Algeria – Table DZ.G001: Population: by Sex and Age.

Algeria: Population density, people per square km: The latest value from 2021 is 19 people per square km, an increase from 18 people per square km in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 456 people per square km, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Algeria from 1961 to 2021 is 11 people per square km. The minimum value, 5 people per square km, was reached in 1961 while the maximum of 19 people per square km was recorded in 2021.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Algeria was reported at 8.325 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population growth (annual %) in Algeria was reported at 1.499 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Algeria - Population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

In 1800, the population of modern day Algeria was estimated to be around 2.5 million people, and by the turn of the twentieth century it had almost doubled to five million. In the first three decades of the nineteenth century, Algeria was a semi-autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, however an invasion by France in 1830 was the beginning of 130 years of French rule, and the development of Algeria's modern borders by 1875 (although northern Algeria was treated as an extension of the French metropole, with elected representatives in the Assembly). Although the rest of the century saw both medicinal and economic progress, French rule also dismantled traditional Algerian political and societal structures, as well as the oppression of Islam, particularly in rural areas. Algeria in the early 1900s The first few decades of the twentieth century saw increasing Algerian and Islamic influence in local government. Throughout both World Wars, Algerian soldiers played an integral part in the French military, and were responsible for Algeria's liberation from Nazi Germany, as well as decisive campaigns in Italy and France. Although Algerian troops often made up the first wave of soldiers to go into battle, they did not receive the same treatment or pay as their French counterparts, and Algerian veterans did not receive the same rights as French veterans until 2017. As Europe's control over its colonies weakened in the mid-1900s, independence movements in countries such as Algeria gained momentum, and the Algerian War of Independence was one of the most violent and arduous during this time. Although it began as guerilla warfare in 1952, a series of massacres and reprisals led to all-out war in 1955, between the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the French-Algerian government. Up to one million Algerian's lost their lives in the war, and approximately twenty percent of the Muslim population became refugees. The war ended in March 1962, through the Evian Accords, and Algeria's independence was acknowledged on July 3, 1962. Independent Algeria In the aftermath of the war, there was a mass exodus of ethnic Europeans, as well as the systematic genocide of thousands of pro-French Algerians who remained in the country. Much of Algeria's agriculture had been destroyed, it's economy was left without structure as the majority of those in positions of power returned to Europe, and seventy percent of the workforce was unemployed. Relative peace followed and the country slowly modernized over the next three decades, however military rule failed to sufficiently stabilize the country, and the government's attempts to suppress Islam's influence in politics eventually led to a civil war in 1992. The civil war involved different factions with Islamic and pro-government agendas, and was very regionalized. The high number of massacres eventually led to splits within all paramilitary factions, which the government then capitalized on to re-establish control, and the war effectively ended in 2002. Since then, the military's control over Algerian politics has gradually decreased, and Algeria has become more peaceful and democratic (however they have not had an elected President since April 2019). Increased stability has also allowed the population to grow exponentially, and today it is almost 44 million people, double what it was in the mid-1980s.

Graph and download economic data for Employment to Population Ratio for Algeria (SLEMPTOTLSPZSDZA) from 1991 to 2024 about Algeria, employment-population ratio, employment, and population.