Half of Nigerians live in cities, up from one in ten

Original title: Half of Nigeria's population lives in cities · Our World in Data · 1 Aug 2026

Chart: Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0

So what

Nigeria has urbanised fivefold in 75 years, creating one of the world's largest pools of city consumers. But the shift has outrun industrialisation, so urban demand for housing, power and transport far exceeds formal jobs and infrastructure. The city share is projected to keep rising, to about 60% by 2100.

Label	Value	Unit	Period
Cities	9.72	% of population	1950
Towns & suburbs	55.4	% of population	1950
Rural areas	34.88	% of population	1950
Cities	41.6	% of population	2000
Cities	48.89	% of population	2020
Towns & suburbs	31.69	% of population	2020
Rural areas	19.42	% of population	2020
Cities	49.65	% of population	2025 (projection)
Cities	60.97	% of population	2100 (projection)
Rural areas	11.47	% of population	2100 (projection)

So what

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