Atlas of African health statistics 2022: Health situation analysis of the WHO African Region

ABSTRACT

The population of the World Health Organization's (WHO) African Region was estimated to be 1 120 161 000 in 2020 and about 14.4% of the world's population of 7 758 157 000. It was 8 billion in 20211 . It is the third largest population among the WHO regions after South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. Between 2019 and 2020, the population differential was equivalent to that of a state of more than 28 million inhabitants. The five most populated countries account for more than 45% of the Region's population. Among these, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo represent about 50% of the population of the West African and Central African subregions, respectively, and Ethiopia represents about 20% of the population of the East and Southern Africa subregions. The average annual population growth in Africa was 2.5% in 2020. If the heterogeneity of the population growth between the regions of the world and between countries in the same subregion is considered, countries from and East and Southern Africa subregions seem to have lower population growth rates than countries in other large subregions, which show significantly higher increases. The current population density of Africa is low, estimated to be 36 inhabitants per km2 for the whole continent. However, many areas are uninhabitable and some countries have relatively large populations. High population density is a concern that must be addressed through policies, because it could generate surges and high concentrations of populations in mega cities and urban slums, which can be an issue when it comes to accessing various qualitative services. Gross domestic product (GDP) reflects a country's resources and therefore its potential to provide access to services to its people, particularly health services. This dynamic creates a circle, with healthier people going to work and contributing to the production of wealth for the benefit of the country. The most vulnerable people live from agriculture in rural areas, or in conflict-affected states. Difficulties in accessing health services, low education and inequalities between men and women are additional obstacles to poverty reduction. The population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to almost double over the next three decades, growing from 1.15 billion in 2022 to 2.09 billion in 2050. The world's population is expected to grow from 7.94 billion at present to 8.51 billion in 2030 and 9.68 billion in 2050. The demographic dividend2 for African countries will emanate from the acceleration of economic growth following a de crease in fertility with a change in the structure of the age pyramid where the active population, that is those aged 18­65 years, will be more important, reaching a certain optimum to make positive the ratio between the population able to finance health and education systems and the population that benefits from these systems. This is the human capital for development at a given moment. The demographic dividend appears to be an opportunity and an invitation to action, but it is also a real challenge, that of creating sustainable jobs to generate the development to activate the economic growth lever.