#6 in the world · UN medium projection
Nigeria population right now
The 2026 mid-year projection is 242,431,832 people. The moving display applies the UN annual numerical change to that 1 July anchor.
Modelled from the 2026 mid-year anchor242,431,832+4,904,050 people/year · +2.06%
Direct answer
How many people live in Nigeria?
The UN medium projection places Nigeria at 242,431,832 people on 1 July 2026. That equals 2.9% of the projected world population.
Annual movement
The population is growing
The model’s annual change is +4,904,050, equivalent to about +13,427 people per average day. This combines births, deaths and net migration; it is not a daily register.
Scale comparison
Nigeria and Brazil
Nigeria has about 1.14× the projected population of Brazil in this 2026 snapshot.
Open Brazil →Definitions that matter
How to read the snapshot
Population
All ages and both sexes at mid-year. The value is estimated or projected, not a headcount taken on one day.
Urban share
The percentage living in areas classified as urban by national criteria; definitions differ between countries.
Density
242,431,832 people divided by 910,770 km² of land area.
Net migration
The 2026 model includes −2,810 net migrants within the annual demographic balance.
Primary evidence
One named source, visible limits
Figures use the Medium variant of the 2024 Revision. The UN series covers 237 countries or areas; estimates and projections from 1950 to 2100 and is built from 1,910 population censuses and 3,189 nationally representative sample surveys, alongside vital-registration and other demographic systems.
These are demographic estimates and projections for Nigeria population and demographic indicators, not a live register of identifiable people. Mid-year values refer to 1 July; moving counters interpolate a published annual flow between anchors.