The northernmost region of the African continent was home to approximately 208 million individuals in 2023. Egypt, the third most populous country in Africa, had roughly 50 percent of the region's population living within its borders, with over 105 million inhabitants. Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia followed with 46 million, 37 million, and 12 million citizens, respectively.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa (SPPOPTOTLMEA) from 1960 to 2024 about North Africa, Middle East, income, and population.

North African Berbers dataset

As of 2022, Cairo was the most populated city in the North African region with over *** million inhabitants. It was followed by Alexandria and Casablanca, with *** million and *** million people, respectively. Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa (SPPOPTOTLMNA) from 1960 to 2024 about North Africa, Middle East, and population.

In 2021, Egypt was the North African country with the highest share of people aged **** years, making up **** percent of the total population. On the contrary, Tunisia presented the lowest percentage of young people in this age group, which constituted **** percent of the total population.

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. As of 2025, the country counted over 237.5 million individuals, whereas Ethiopia, which ranked second, has around 135.5 million inhabitants. Egypt registered the largest population in North Africa, reaching nearly 118.4 million people. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Nigeria only ranked seventh, while Mauritius had the highest population density on the whole African continent in 2023. The fastest-growing world region Africa is the second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. Nevertheless, Africa records the highest growth rate worldwide, with figures rising by over two percent every year. In some countries, such as Chad, South Sudan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, the population increase peaks at over 3.4 percent. With so many births, Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. However, this coincides with a low life expectancy. African cities on the rise The last decades have seen high urbanization rates in Asia, mainly in China and India. African cities are also growing at large rates. Indeed, the continent has three megacities and is expected to add four more by 2050. Furthermore, Africa's fastest-growing cities are forecast to be Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Zinder, Nigeria, by 2035.

North African populations are distinct from sub-Saharan Africans based on cultural, linguistic, and phenotypic attributes; however, the time and the extent of genetic divergence between populations north and south of the Sahara remain poorly understood. Here, we interrogate the multilayered history of North Africa by characterizing the effect of hypothesized migrations from the Near East, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa on current genetic diversity. We present dense, genome-wide SNP genotyping array data (730,000 sites) from seven North African populations, spanning from Egypt to Morocco, and one Spanish population. We identify a gradient of likely autochthonous Maghrebi ancestry that increases from east to west across northern Africa; this ancestry is likely derived from “back-to-Africa” gene flow more than 12,000 years ago (ya), prior to the Holocene. The indigenous North African ancestry is more frequent in populations with historical Berber ethnicity. In most North African populations we also see substantial shared ancestry with the Near East, and to a lesser extent sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. To estimate the time of migration from sub-Saharan populations into North Africa, we implement a maximum likelihood dating method based on the distribution of migrant tracts. In order to first identify migrant tracts, we assign local ancestry to haplotypes using a novel, principal component-based analysis of three ancestral populations. We estimate that a migration of western African origin into Morocco began about 40 generations ago (approximately 1,200 ya); a migration of individuals with Nilotic ancestry into Egypt occurred about 25 generations ago (approximately 750 ya). Our genomic data reveal an extraordinarily complex history of migrations, involving at least five ancestral populations, into North Africa.

Graph and download economic data for Refugee Population by Country or Territory of Asylum for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa (SMPOPREFGMNA) from 1990 to 2023 about North Africa, Middle East, refugee, World, and population.

Population Growth: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa was 2.05616 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population Growth: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa reached a record high of 3.56968 in January of 1990 and a record low of 1.19548 in January of 2021. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population Growth: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on December of 2025.

The dataset contains data on relative dynamics of population, GDP, and GDP per capita in North African Countries during Their Escape from the Malthusian Trap.

Graph and download economic data for Population ages 65 and above for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa (SPPOP65UPTOZSMNA) from 1960 to 2024 about North Africa, Middle East, 65-years +, and population.

The geostrategic location of North Africa as a crossroad between three continents and as a stepping-stone outside Africa has evoked anthropological and genetic interest in this region. Numerous studies have described the genetic landscape of the human population in North Africa employing paternal, maternal, and biparental molecular markers. However, information from these markers which have different inheritance patterns has been mostly assessed independently, resulting in an incomplete description of the region. In this study, we analyze uniparental and genome-wide markers examining similarities or contrasts in the results and consequently provide a comprehensive description of the evolutionary history of North Africa populations. Our results show that both males and females in North Africa underwent a similar admixture history with slight differences in the proportions of admixture components. Consequently, genome-wide diversity show similar patterns with admixture tests suggesting North Africans are a mixture of ancestral populations related to current Africans and Eurasians with more affinity towards the out-of-Africa populations than to sub-Saharan Africans. We estimate from the paternal lineages that most North Africans emerged ∼15,000 years ago during the last glacial warming and that population splits started after the desiccation of the Sahara. Although most North Africans share a common admixture history, the Tunisian Berbers show long periods of genetic isolation and appear to have diverged from surrounding populations without subsequent mixture. On the other hand, continuous gene flow from the Middle East made Egyptians genetically closer to Eurasians than to other North Africans. We show that genetic diversity of today's North Africans mostly captures patterns from migrations post Last Glacial Maximum and therefore may be insufficient to inform on the initial population of the region during the Middle Paleolithic period.

Population Growth for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa was 1.82520 % Chg. at Annual Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population Growth for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa reached a record high of 3.59094 in January of 1990 and a record low of 1.55792 in January of 2021. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population Growth for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on December of 2025.

Population, Total: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa was 508311359.00000 Persons in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population, Total: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa reached a record high of 508311359.00000 in January of 2023 and a record low of 105203230.00000 in January of 1960. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population, Total: All Income Levels for Middle East and North Africa - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on November of 2025.

This statistic illustrates the share of population with access to electricity in North Africa from 1990 to 2014. As of 2014, the share of the North African population with access to electricity was **** percent.

Background: The genetic composition of human North African populations is an amalgam of different ancestral components coming from the Middle East, Europe, south-Saharan Africa and autochthonous to North Africa. This complex genetic pattern is the result of migrations and admixtures in the region since Palaeolithic times. Aims: The objective of the present study is to refine knowledge of the population history of North African populations through the analysis of complete mitochondrial sequences. Subjects and methods: This study has sequenced complete mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) in several North African and neighbouring individuals. Results: The mtDNA haplogroup classification and phylogeny shows a high genetic diversity in the region as a result of continuous admixture. The phylogenetic analysis allowed us to identify a new haplogroup characterised by positions 10 101 C and 146 C (H1v2), a sub-branch of H1v, which is restricted to North Africa and whose origins are estimated as ∼4000 years ago. Conclusions: The analysis of the complete mtDNA genome has allowed for the identification of a North African sub-lineage that might be ignored by the analysis of partial mtDNA control region sequences, highlighting the phylogeographic relevance of mtDNA complete sequence analysis.

This horizontal bar chart displays urban population (people) by countries using the aggregation sum in Northern Africa. The data is about countries.

Libya had the largest population of concern in North Africa in 2020. The country hosted around *** thousand people in need, including refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, stateless, or people at risk of statelessness. Egypt followed with a population of concern of *** thousand individuals. On the other hand, Tunisia hosted the lowest number, approximately *** thousand.

Population Ages 0 to 14 for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa was 30.53353 % of Total in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Population Ages 0 to 14 for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa reached a record high of 44.85280 in January of 1967 and a record low of 30.53353 in January of 2023. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Population Ages 0 to 14 for Developing Countries in Middle East and North Africa - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on November of 2025.