African continent "expected to host 25.4% of world’s population by 2050’ CAIRO: Egypt has been ranked first in terms of population in the North African region, with 104.2 million, and placed third on the continent behind Nigeria and Ethiopia, after figures were released to coincide with African Statistics Day. The numbers were revealed in a press release from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. According to CAPMAS, Egypt’s population represents about 7.3 percent of the population of Africa and 1.3 percent of the world’s numbers. The country ranks 14th in terms of world population. Nigeria ranked first in the West African region, with a population of 219.5 million, 15.4 percent of Africa’s numbers. Ethiopia was the most populous country in the East African region with 122.1 million, 8.6 percent of the population of Africa. In the Central African region, the Democratic Republic of the Congo hosts 96.5 million people, some 6.8 percent of Africa’s population. South Africa has a population of 61.1 million, which is 4.3 percent of Africa’s population. CAPMAS estimates that the African continent is expected to host 25.4 percent of the world’s population by 2050. This figure compares to 17.8 percent in 2022. The agency added that the population of the continent reached 1.42 billion people on Nov. 17, some 17.8 percent of the world’s population of 8 billion. The world figure is expected to reach 9.75 billion by 2050. African Statistics Day, which takes place on November 18, began in 1990 and aims to raise public awareness of the importance of figures in economic and social development.