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Indicators · Market size

Urban population

Estimated number of people living in urban areas, from total population and the urban share.

Why it matters

Most consumer, retail, mobility and digital businesses start in cities, where customers are dense and cheaper to reach. This is the first-wave addressable market.

Read with care

Each country defines "urban" its own way, so the split is not strictly comparable across borders.

Source

dotzedw

people. 54 African countries, 1990 to 2025.

Urban people: highest in DRC, lowest in Seychelles

Urban population, people. Latest year available, 2025. 16 of 16 countries have data.

490k
2m
10m
26m
No data
Loading map…
Source: dotzedw· Get the data (Professional)·dotzedw Insights Centre

Ranked: urban peopleiWhy it mattersMost consumer, retail, mobility and digital businesses start in cities, where customers are dense and cheaper to reach. This is the first-wave addressable market.

Click a country to highlight it.

010m20m30m40m50mDRC50.9mSouth Africa41.3mAngola27.9mTanzania26.0mMozambique13.3mMadagascar10.8mZambia10.1mZimbabwe6.9mMalawi3.9mBotswana1.7mNamibia1.6mLesotho1.1mMauritius486kEswatini336kComoros300kSeychelles56kmedian 5.4m
dotzedw Insights Centre
How spread out SADC is
Median 5.4mLog scaleLowest: Seychelles 56kHighest: DRC 50.9m

Over time

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Urban population against income per person

Each bubble is a SADC country, sized by population. Dashed lines mark the SADC medians. Countries far from the pattern are worth a closer look.

0.010.0m20.0m30.0m40.0m50.0m$1,000$3,000$10kGDP per person, US$ (log scale)Urban peopleDRCTanzaniaSouth AfricaAngolaMozambiqueMadagascarMalawiZambia
Source: dotzedw, World Bank·dotzedw Insights Centre

Table

The same figures as the map, for screen readers and copying.
RankCountryValueYearFive-year changeGradeDetails
1DRC50.9m2025up 23% since 2020C
2South Africa41.3m2025up 8% since 2020C
3Angola27.9m2025up 24% since 2020C
4Tanzania26.0m2025up 26% since 2020C
5Mozambique13.3m2025up 27% since 2020C
6Madagascar10.8m2025up 21% since 2020C
7Zambia10.1m2025up 20% since 2020C
8Zimbabwe6.9m2025up 19% since 2020C
9Malawi3.9m2025up 23% since 2020C
10Botswana1.7m2025up 11% since 2020C
11Namibia1.6m2025up 19% since 2020C
12Lesotho1.1m2025up 19% since 2020C
13Mauritius486k2025down 2% since 2020C
14Eswatini336k2025up 14% since 2020C
15Comoros300k2025up 17% since 2020C
16Seychelles56k2025up 28% since 2020C