8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Western Africa

Born in Nigeria

About 1 in 18 people born in 2023 started life in Nigeria. A boy can expect to live 54 years and a girl 55, up from 34 and 38 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 81% have basic drinking water.

1 in 18
odds of being born here
7.5 million births · Ranked 3rd of 230
54 / 55
years of life, boys / girls
Was 34 / 38 in 1950
$1,535
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 189th of 203 · extrapolated
62%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 19 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 341 in every 1,000 births to 104.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0204060195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth54.2 years for boys, 54.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 5104.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year2,675,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles54%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year219 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year299 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.5.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.48UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 42 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
23%Fourth
42%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,535 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth42% / 8% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises24.7% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming35% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed86% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment47% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lagos, with 15.4 million people.

62%
live in cities
61%
have electricity at home
81%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lagos15.4 million
Kano4.9 million
Ibadan3.6 million
Abuja2.7 million
Port Harcourt2.1 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English53%
Nigerian Pidgin21%
Hausa13%
Igbo13%
Yoruba13%
English, Yoruba is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Lagos20.1 million
Oyo State6.1 million
Kano State5.0 million
Osun State3.6 million
Kaduna State3.2 million
FCT2.8 million
Anambra2.7 million
Rivers State2.5 million
Edo State2.0 million
Ondo State2.0 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 37 regions
  • Lagos20.1 million
  • Oyo State6.1 million
  • Kano State5.0 million
  • Osun State3.6 million
  • Kaduna State3.2 million
  • FCT2.8 million
  • Anambra2.7 million
  • Rivers State2.5 million
  • Edo State2.0 million
  • Ondo State2.0 million
  • Ogun State1.9 million
  • Abia State1.8 million
  • Ekiti State1.6 million
  • Borno State1.5 million
  • Delta1.5 million
  • Kwara State1.4 million
  • Niger State1.2 million
  • Enugu State1.2 million
  • Sokoto1.1 million
  • Plateau State1.1 million
  • Adamawa1.0 million
  • Bayelsa State914,774
  • Katsina State902,809
  • Cross River State876,513
  • Akwa Ibom State865,372
  • Benue State855,896
  • Bauchi836,614
  • Gombe State796,703
  • Kogi State790,545
  • Imo State745,111
  • Yobe State505,034
  • Ebonyi State450,317
  • Jigawa State430,699
  • Zamfara State403,106
  • Nasarawa State302,315
  • Kebbi277,149
  • Taraba State270,795

People on the move

About 0.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, United Kingdom, Niger.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States565,053
United Kingdom324,007
Niger199,722
Residents born abroad0.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (565,053), United Kingdom (324,007), Niger (199,722)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $22.8 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

20% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

20%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20243,155Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence73,821 between 1990 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Nigeria, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Nigeria

Elsewhere in Africa

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences