Most Populated Cities In Africa (2026) 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒

Africa’s 15 largest cities have a combined population larger than that of Japan.

The population of Africa’s largest cities, compiled by World Population Review and accessed via Statista, shows just how concentrated urban Africa has become, with three cities alone accounting for nearly 44% of that total.

Africa’s 15 largest cities are home to about 132 million people, more than the entire population of Japan.
Only three cities, Cairo, Kinshasa, and Lagos, pass 17 million; every city after that falls off sharply.
Nairobi has the reputation as East Africa’s leading city, but Dar es Salaam actually has nearly 2.8 million more people.

Some of the more surprising entries sit further down the list. Nairobi, Kenya, often described as East Africa’s leading business and technology hub, ranks 11th, with a population of about 5.8 million.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, ranks 5th with 8.6 million residents, nearly 2.8 million more than Nairobi.

The city with the stronger economic reputation isn’t the one with the larger population.

South Africa tells a similar story. Despite being Africa’s most industrialized economy, its largest city, Johannesburg, only ranks 7th on the list with about 6.4 million people, and Cape Town trails further behind in 12th place with about 5.1 million.