Democratic Republic of Congo vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Urban population

Democratic Republic of Congo
50.90 million
in 2025
Sub-Saharan Africa
590.23 million
in 2025
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
18th
Sub-Saharan Africa rank
20th

Urban population over time

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
0200.0M400.0M600.0M196019922025

How they compare

Sub-Saharan Africa currently reports 590.23 million against 50.90 million in Democratic Republic of Congo, a difference of 539.33 million.

That makes Sub-Saharan Africa's figure about 11.6 times Democratic Republic of Congo's.

Across all 66 years both countries report, Sub-Saharan Africa has been ahead every year.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 20th of 215 countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Democratic Republic of Congo Sub-Saharan Africa Difference Ahead
1960s 3.98 million 41.38 million 37.41 million Sub-Saharan Africa
1970s 5.77 million 69.53 million 63.76 million Sub-Saharan Africa
1980s 8.77 million 114.63 million 105.87 million Sub-Saharan Africa
1990s 13.90 million 179.66 million 165.76 million Sub-Saharan Africa
2000s 21.62 million 269.82 million 248.20 million Sub-Saharan Africa
2010s 33.08 million 402.27 million 369.19 million Sub-Saharan Africa
2020s 46.10 million 540.44 million 494.34 million Sub-Saharan Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher urban population, Democratic Republic of Congo or Sub-Saharan Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa, at 590.23 million against 50.90 million in Democratic Republic of Congo as of 2025.
What is the difference in urban population between Democratic Republic of Congo and Sub-Saharan Africa?
539.33 million, with Sub-Saharan Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Democratic Republic of Congo and Sub-Saharan Africa?
66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
How do Democratic Republic of Congo and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for urban population?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 20th of 215 countries.
Where does this data come from?
World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as Urban population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Urban population
Source
World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
264 places, 17,394 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.