Non-agricultural population (FAO, number) by country

The non-agricultural population is obtained as a residual of agricultural population from the total population.

Countries reporting

Highest

127.65 million FAO, number

Nigeria

Lowest

23,000 FAO, number

Seychelles

Median

3.73 million FAO, number

Years covered

1980–2012

Data points

1,934

What the numbers show

Non-agricultural population (FAO, number) is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 127.65 million FAO, number in Nigeria; the lowest is 23,000 FAO, number in Seychelles.

The median across all reporting countries is 3.73 million FAO, number, and the mean is 10.41 million FAO, number.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5,550.

Non-agricultural population: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Nigeria	127.65 million FAO, number	2012	up 43.4%	rising
2	Egypt	61.63 million FAO, number	2012	up 32.0%	rising
3	South Africa	46.12 million FAO, number	2012	up 15.1%	rising
4	Democratic Republic of Congo	30.45 million FAO, number	2012	up 49.1%	rising
5	Algeria	29.13 million FAO, number	2012	up 21.2%	rising
6	Morocco	24.60 million FAO, number	2012	up 21.6%	rising
7	Sudan	23.06 million FAO, number	2012	up 57.0%	rising
8	Ethiopia	20.56 million FAO, number	2012	up 59.8%	rising
9	Tanzania	13.26 million FAO, number	2012	up 63.3%	rising
10	Cote d'Ivoire	13.21 million FAO, number	2012	up 43.9%	rising
11	Kenya	13.01 million FAO, number	2012	up 55.1%	rising
12	Cameroon	12.59 million FAO, number	2012	up 56.0%	rising
13	Ghana	11.92 million FAO, number	2012	up 34.4%	rising
14	Uganda	9.89 million FAO, number	2012	up 74.4%	volatile
15	Tunisia	8.57 million FAO, number	2012	up 15.8%	rising
16	Madagascar	6.78 million FAO, number	2012	up 59.0%	rising
17	Angola	6.30 million FAO, number	2012	up 47.2%	rising
18	Libya	6.29 million FAO, number	2012	up 22.0%	rising
19	Mozambique	6.01 million FAO, number	2012	up 43.0%	rising
20	Zimbabwe	5.86 million FAO, number	2012	up 21.0%	rising
21	Benin	5.39 million FAO, number	2012	up 61.9%	rising
22	Zambia	5.28 million FAO, number	2012	up 54.3%	rising
23	Malawi	4.48 million FAO, number	2012	up 64.5%	rising
24	Chad	4.33 million FAO, number	2012	up 85.6%	volatile
25	Mali	4.31 million FAO, number	2012	up 76.4%	rising
26	Senegal	3.99 million FAO, number	2012	up 46.7%	rising
27	Somalia	3.47 million FAO, number	2012	up 44.8%	rising
28	Togo	3.01 million FAO, number	2012	up 43.2%	rising
29	Niger	2.95 million FAO, number	2012	up 70.4%	rising
30	Congo	2.95 million FAO, number	2012	up 45.3%	rising
31	Sierra Leone	2.52 million FAO, number	2012	up 56.4%	rising
32	Guinea	2.21 million FAO, number	2012	up 52.1%	rising
33	Mauritania	1.82 million FAO, number	2012	up 35.4%	rising
34	Central African Republic	1.77 million FAO, number	2012	up 58.9%	rising
35	Liberia	1.66 million FAO, number	2012	up 65.5%	rising
36	Eritrea	1.50 million FAO, number	2012	up 60.4%	rising
37	Namibia	1.43 million FAO, number	2012	up 38.3%	rising
38	Burkina Faso	1.40 million FAO, number	2012	up 37.3%	rising
39	Lesotho	1.37 million FAO, number	2012	up 15.8%	rising
40	Rwanda	1.24 million FAO, number	2012	up 50.7%	rising
41	Mauritius	1.22 million FAO, number	2012	up 11.7%	rising
42	Botswana	1.20 million FAO, number	2012	up 17.6%	rising
43	Gabon	1.18 million FAO, number	2012	up 40.8%	rising
44	Burundi	971,000 FAO, number	2012	up 54.4%	rising
45	Eswatini	884,000 FAO, number	2012	up 23.8%	rising
46	Gambia	450,000 FAO, number	2012	up 52.0%	rising
47	Cape Verde	425,000 FAO, number	2012	up 19.7%	rising
48	Guinea-Bissau	337,000 FAO, number	2012	up 44.0%	rising
49	Equatorial Guinea	272,000 FAO, number	2012	up 56.3%	rising
51	Comoros	244,000 FAO, number	2012	up 51.6%	rising
52	Sao Tome and Principe	75,000 FAO, number	2012	up 33.9%	rising
53	Seychelles	23,000 FAO, number	2012	up 27.8%	rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

Africa 541.51 million FAO, number
Sub-Saharan Africa 411.03 million FAO, number
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 410.75 million FAO, number
Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 364.91 million FAO, number
Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 237.26 million FAO, number
North Africa 130.48 million FAO, number

About this data

Indicator: Non-agricultural population (FAO, number)
Unit: FAO, number
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 59 places, 1,934 data points, 1980–2012
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

The non-agricultural population is obtained as a residual of agricultural population from the total population.