Urban population growth in Congo
Congo: Urban population growth was 2.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Congo, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, urban population growth in Congo stood at 2.7%.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and up 4.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Congo peaked at 5.6% in 1979 and was at its lowest, 2.4%, in 2022.
That places Congo 52nd out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth in Congo, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.3% | — |
| 1962 | 2.7% | -20.2% |
| 1963 | 2.8% | +5.4% |
| 1964 | 3.0% | +5.3% |
| 1965 | 3.1% | +4.7% |
| 1966 | 3.2% | +4.3% |
| 1967 | 3.4% | +3.6% |
| 1968 | 3.5% | +3.5% |
| 1969 | 3.6% | +3.3% |
| 1970 | 3.7% | +2.8% |
| 1971 | 3.8% | +2.7% |
| 1972 | 3.9% | +2.4% |
| 1973 | 3.9% | +1.6% |
| 1974 | 4.1% | +4.0% |
| 1975 | 4.4% | +7.3% |
| 1976 | 4.8% | +9.6% |
| 1977 | 5.3% | +9.4% |
| 1978 | 5.5% | +4.8% |
| 1979 | 5.6% | +1.1% |
| 1980 | 5.5% | -1.7% |
| 1981 | 5.3% | -4.0% |
| 1982 | 4.9% | -6.9% |
| 1983 | 4.4% | -10.4% |
| 1984 | 4.3% | -3.3% |
| 1985 | 4.2% | -0.6% |
| 1986 | 4.0% | -6.0% |
| 1987 | 3.8% | -3.3% |
| 1988 | 3.7% | -3.2% |
| 1989 | 3.6% | -2.2% |
| 1990 | 3.6% | -2.5% |
| 1991 | 3.5% | -1.4% |
| 1992 | 3.5% | -1.0% |
| 1993 | 3.6% | +3.8% |
| 1994 | 3.6% | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 3.5% | -3.1% |
| 1996 | 3.5% | +0.3% |
| 1997 | 3.0% | -16.0% |
| 1998 | 3.1% | +4.3% |
| 1999 | 3.6% | +17.5% |
| 2000 | 4.8% | +31.5% |
| 2001 | 4.7% | -1.5% |
| 2002 | 3.2% | -30.8% |
| 2003 | 3.6% | +11.4% |
| 2004 | 4.2% | +14.9% |
| 2005 | 4.2% | +1.9% |
| 2006 | 4.3% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 4.0% | -5.4% |
| 2008 | 3.6% | -10.9% |
| 2009 | 4.3% | +19.5% |
| 2010 | 4.4% | +3.1% |
| 2011 | 3.5% | -20.5% |
| 2012 | 3.1% | -13.3% |
| 2013 | 2.7% | -12.5% |
| 2014 | 2.6% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 2.6% | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 2.6% | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 2.6% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 2.5% | -2.2% |
| 2020 | 2.5% | -1.4% |
| 2021 | 2.5% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 2.4% | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 2.5% | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 2.7% | +12.2% |
| 2025 | 2.7% | -0.6% |
Congo compared with similar countries
- Congo's 2.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.7%, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Congo's 2.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.4%, 81% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth in Congo changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +31.5% | 3.6% | 4.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.2% | 2.7% | 3.6% | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.5% | 3.7% | 5.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.4% | 3.6% | 5.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.4% | 3.0% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 3.2% | 4.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.9% | 2.5% | 4.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Congo
More climate change data for Congo
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 226,333 kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 762.73 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 278.7 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 484.03 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1.05 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 17.29 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 13.23 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 6.62 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 6.61 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.025 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Congo?
- Urban population growth in Congo was 2.7% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 5.6% in 1979.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4% in 2022.
- How does Congo rank for urban population growth?
- Congo ranks 52nd out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Congo data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.