Home / Population growth / Zambia
Zambia — Population growth
Population Growth (Annual %) for Zambia, 1961–2025.
Latest value · 2025
2.77%
Population Growth (Annual %) · annual % · -11.5% since 1961
Population growth for Zambia was 2.77% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 65 years, from 1961 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 3.57% in 2008. The lowest was 2.38% in 1993 (about 1.2× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.19% per year.
Zambia ranks 19 of 217 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 9%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 2.30%, so Zambia sits above it. It peaked in 2008 and has fallen 22% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 11%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
2.77%
First (1961)
3.13%
Change
-11.5%
Highest
3.57%
in 2008
Lowest
2.38%
in 1993
Average
2.98%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.19%
Years of data
65
Recent years
| Year | annual % |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.77% |
| 2024 | 2.81% |
| 2023 | 2.79% |
| 2022 | 2.76% |
| 2021 | 2.82% |
| 2020 | 2.9% |
| 2019 | 2.96% |
| 2018 | 3.01% |
| 2017 | 3.07% |
| 2016 | 3.09% |
| 2015 | 3.12% |
| 2014 | 3.17% |
Reading this correctly. Annual population growth rate. A negative value means the population shrank, usually through emigration or low birth rates. Figures are in annual %. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SP.POP.GROW — Population Growth (Annual %). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.