How fast urban populations grew in five West African countries

Ghana and Nigeria slowed over the long period

Ghana’s annual estimate went from 4.71% in 1990 to 3.35% in 2015 and 2.79% in 2025. Nigeria’s moved from 4.95% to 4.00% and then 3.32%. Their urban populations continued to grow at the latest rates. Source 1

Senegal’s estimates followed a different path

Senegal was at 2.88% in 2000 and above 4.7% from 2018 to 2023. It fell to 3.30% in 2024 and 3.25% in 2025. The source uses nationally defined urban populations, so checking definitions matters when interpreting a sharp break. Source 1

An annual rate differs from the urban share

The rate measures the change in how many people are counted as urban. The urban share divides that count by everyone in the country. Urban populations can grow even when the urban share changes little if total populations are also growing. Source 2

Several processes can change the urban count

Births and deaths, migration and settlement reclassification can all affect the estimate. Country totals do not allocate the change to particular cities. Local plans need settlement-level population records and their boundaries. Source 2

Sources

• UN World Urbanization Prospects and World Bank population estimates via WDI
• Publisher metadata and indicator definition
• World Bank API, country and year records