Nigeria’s population to grow by 130m people by 2050, says World Bank president

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, says Nigeria’s population will increase by about 130 million people in 2050. 

Banga spoke during the 2025 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, Nigeria’s population is currently estimated at 237.5 million.

Speaking at the meetings, Banga said Nigeria will rank as one of the most populous countries in the world by 2050.

“… Nigeria will swell by about 130 million, firmly establishing itself as one of the most populous nations in the world,” he said.

Banga said Zambia will add 700,000 people every year and Mozambique’s population will double by 2050.

“We are living through one of the great demographic shifts in human history,” he said.

“By 2050, more than 85% of the world’s population will live in countries we call ‘developing’ today.

“In just the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce—vying for roughly 400 million jobs. That leaves a very large gap.”

The World Bank president said over the next 10 years, four young people will enter the global workforce every second.

With their energy and ideas, he said, they will shape the century ahead.

“So in the time it takes to deliver these remarks, tens of thousands will cross that threshold—full of ambition, impatient for opportunity,” Banga said.

“The pace of population growth is most staggering in Africa, which will be home to one in four people by 2050. Between now and then estimates suggest:

“With the right investments—focused not on need, but opportunity—we can unlock a powerful engine of global growth.”

Banga warned that without deliberate action, their optimism could give way to despair — driving instability, unrest, and mass migration with consequences for every region and economy.

“This is why jobs must be at the center of any development, economic, or national security strategy,” Banga said.

“But what do we mean by a job? It can mean working for a company and advancing through it to higher levels, or being employed at a small business. But it could also mean starting your own as an entrepreneur.

“A job is more than a paycheck. It is what allows both women and men to pursue their aspirations. It’s purpose. It’s dignity.

“The anchor that holds families steady and the glue that keeps societies together. It is the straightest line to stability—and the hardest progress to reverse once achieved.”

This, the president said, is why the World Bank has reframed “what we do—how we measure it, and how we deliver it—around this reality”.

According to Banga, the Bretton Woods institution has focused on operating with greater speed, simplicity, and substance over the past two years.

He noted that average project approval times have dropped from 19 months to 12, with some projects now cleared in under 30 days.