Global Statistics Wire

Africa in numbers. Rankings, infrastructure, markets & power - on a global stage.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

🇳🇬 Nigeria Had More Babies Born in 2025 Than the Entire European Continent

Nigeria recorded an estimated 7.64 million births in 2025, compared with approximately 6.3 million across Europe.

Other African countries with high numbers of births:

2. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: 4.56 million
3. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: 4.18 million
4. 🇪🇬 Egypt: 2.45 million
5. 🇹🇿 Tanzania: 2.42 million
6. 🇺🇬 Uganda: 1.73 million

Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024, 2025 estimates.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Africa’s Export Paradox: Trade Is Growing, but Raw Materials Still Dominate

1) Africa exported approximately $689 billion worth of goods in 2025.

2) 🇿🇦 South Africa alone accounted for nearly $1 in every $6 exported by the continent, with $116.4 billion.

3) 🇳🇬 Nigeria followed with $55.5 billion, while 🇪🇬 Egypt and 🇲🇦 Morocco were close at $51.4 billion and $49.8 billion.

4) 76.7% of its goods exports were primary commodities, including minerals, fuels and agricultural products.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

@babay_ke And where the statement said it’s a problem ?

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

🇰🇪 Kenya will become the only country in East and Central Africa with a stadium as large as 60,000 seats built without an athletics running track.

1) The 60,000-seat Raila Odinga International Stadium (Talanta) in Nairobi is designed for football and rugby, bringing fans closer to the pitch.

2) Unlike Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa, Rwanda’s Amahoro and DR Congo’s Stade des Martyrs, Talanta has no athletics track around its main pitch.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Some of African countries modernising or expanding major airports: 2026

1. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: Bishoftu International Airport
2. 🇷🇼 Rwanda: Bugesera Int Airport
3. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: N’Djili Airport
4. 🇳🇬Nigeria: L. Murtala Muhammed Airport
5. 🇰🇪 Kenya: JKIA expansion
6. 🇪🇬 Egypt: Cairo Terminal 4
7. 🇲🇦 Morocco: Casablanca Mohammed V
8. 🇿🇦 South Africa: Cape Town/ OR Tambo airports, major upgrades.

Africa’s aviation infrastructure is expanding, with new airports, terminals and capacity upgrades planned across the continent.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

🇪🇬 Egypt plans $4.2 billion expansion of Cairo International Airport.

1) The new Terminal 4 will handle 40 million passengers annually, raising total airport capacity to 70 million.

2) The project could intensify competition with 🇪🇹 Ethiopia’s new Bishoftu Airport, designed to eventually handle 110 million passengers annually.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Hey @grok can you confirm the post if it’s true or not?

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Africa’s Most Expensive Civilian Passports: Maximum High-End Fees (2026)

1. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe: $315
2. 🇳🇬 Nigeria: $292
3. 🇸🇩 Sudan: $250
4. 🇨🇲 Cameroon: $245
5. 🇬🇭 Ghana: $200

Figures represent the highest documented official fees identified, including mandatory overseas consular charges where applicable, rather than standard domestic passport prices.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Africa’s most expensive football stadiums: 2026

1. 🇿🇦 DHL Stadium (Cape Town): $600M
2. 🇿🇦 Moses Mabhida Stadium: $450M
3. 🇿🇦 FNB Stadium: $440M
4. 🇲🇦 Grand Stade de Tanger: $360M
5. 🇳🇬 Moshood Abiola Stadium: $360M
6. 🇰🇪 Talanta Stadium: $350M
7. 🇨🇲 Olembe Stadium: $330M
8. 🇿🇦 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium: $270M
9. 🇨🇲 Japoma Stadium: $232M

🇿🇦 South Africa leads with four stadiums, largely built or redeveloped for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

🇲🇦 Morocco’s Grand Stade Hassan II, with a projected cost of up to $1.4 billion, is excluded from the ranking as it remains in the early stages of construction.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

South Africa to Tanzania: One of Africa’s longest cross-border railway corridors.

Stretching approximately 4,500 km, the railway connects Durban to Dar es Salaam through four countries:

1. 🇿🇦 South Africa
2. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
3. 🇿🇲 Zambia
4. 🇹🇿 Tanzania

The interconnected network uses Cape gauge (1,067 mm) and includes the 1,860 km TAZARA Railway linking Zambia and Tanzania.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Top 5 African countries with the largest railway networks 2026

1. 🇿🇦 South Africa: 20,986 km
2. 🇪🇬 Egypt: 5,100 km
3. 🇲🇿 Mozambique: 4,787 km
4. 🇹🇿 Tanzania: 4,638 km
5. 🇩🇿 Algeria: 4,020 km

🇪🇬 Egypt is developing approximately 2,000 km of additional electric railway, excluded because it is not yet operational

🇸🇩 Sudan is excluded due to extensive wartime disruption of railway services.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

African countries affected by the 2026 Ebola outbreak

1. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: 9,704 cases, 4,687 deaths
2. 🇺🇬 Uganda: 20 cases, 2 deaths
3. 🇰🇪 Kenya: 9 cases, 2 deaths
4. 🇳🇬 Nigeria: 1 case

Uganda successfully contained its outbreak and was declared Ebola-free in August. DR Congo remains the epicentre, while Kenya and Nigeria have reported imported infections.

Source: WHO / Africa CDC, October 2026.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

African countries with gold-refining facilities or initiatives

1. 🇿🇦 South Africa - Certified by LBMA
2. 🇬🇭 Ghana
3. 🇺🇬 Uganda
4. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
5. 🇹🇿 Tanzania
6. 🇿🇲 Zambia
7. 🇷🇼 Rwanda
8. 🇸🇩 Sudan
9. 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
10. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
11. 🇨🇩 DR Congo
12. 🇬🇳 Guinea
13. 🇳🇬 Nigeria
14. 🇲🇱 Mali
15. 🇬🇦 Gabon

Despite growing investment in local gold refining, South Africa remains the only African country with an LBMA Good Delivery-accredited gold refinery.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

🇿🇦 South Africa’s Groote Schuur Hospital is Africa’s highest-ranked academic medical centre in 2026!

1) Located in Cape Town, the hospital ranks 25th globally, scoring 74.1/100 in Brand Finance’s 2026 assessment.

2) It also ranks No. 1 worldwide for medical teaching.

3) Only six African institutions made the global top 100, representing South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

🇿🇦 South Africa is Africa’s largest producer of industrial timber.

1) In 2024, the country produced approximately 16.2 million cubic metres of industrial roundwood, supported by extensive commercial forestry plantations.

2) South Africa’s timber industry supplies sawmills, pulp and paper manufacturers, and other wood-processing industries.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Top 10 African countries with the highest access to basic drinking water (2024)

1. 🇲🇺 Mauritius: 99.9%
2. 🇸🇨 Seychelles: 97.7%
3. 🇪🇬 Egypt: 97.3%
4. 🇹🇳 Tunisia: 96.7%
5. 🇱🇾 Libya: 96.4%
6. 🇩🇿 Algeria: 92.4%
7. 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde: 92.3%
8. 🇲🇦 Morocco: 92.2%
9. 🇧🇼 Botswana: 91.8%
10. 🇿🇦 South Africa: 90.2%

Basic drinking water means water from an improved source that can be collected within 30 minutes, including a round trip.

Source: WHO/UNICEF JMP, World Bank (2024).

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

East African countries spend billions on their militaries, yet owe the EAC over $125 million.

Military expenditure in 2025 according to SIPRI

1. 🇰🇪 Kenya: $1.47B
2. 🇺🇬 Uganda: $1.30B
3. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: $1.20B
4. 🇹🇿 Tanzania: $1.03B
5. 🇸🇴 Somalia: $199M
6. 🇷🇼 Rwanda: $194M
7. 🇧🇮 Burundi: $169M
8. 🇸🇸 South Sudan: $103M

Despite these military budgets, the eight countries collectively owe the East African Community over $125M in unpaid contributions, exceeding its $110.9M annual budget.

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

11 African countries on the US highest travel warning list (October 2026)

1. 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
2. 🇨🇫 Central African Republic
3. 🇹🇩 Chad
4. 🇨🇩 DR Congo
5. 🇱🇾 Libya
6. 🇲🇱 Mali
7. 🇳🇪 Niger
8. 🇸🇴 Somalia
9. 🇸🇸 South Sudan
10. 🇸🇩 Sudan
11. 🇺🇬 Uganda

All 11 carry Level 4: Do Not Travel advisories, the highest US warning level.

Reasons include armed conflict, terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime and health emergencies, depending on the country.

Notably, Uganda was raised from Level 3 to Level 4 in May 2026, with health concerns contributing to the change.

Source: US Department of State, Travel Advisories (October 2026).

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

When Africa’s Economy Was Bigger Than China’s

1980
1)Africa: $435.5B
2) 🇨🇳 China: $191.5B

2026 (IMF projections)
1) 🇨🇳 China: $21.5T
2) Africa: $3.6T

In 1980, Africa’s combined economy was 2.3 times larger than China’s. By the 1990s, China had overtaken the continent.

In 2026, China’s economy is projected to be nearly six times larger than Africa’s combined GDP

[Global Statistics Wire @stats_wire]

Africa’s 10 Biggest Economies: GDP Change from 2016 to 2026 (%)

Ranked by percentage change in nominal GDP (USD).

1. 🇨🇩 DR Congo: +217%
2. 🇦🇴 Angola: +198%
3. 🇬🇭 Ghana: +129%
4. 🇰🇪 Kenya: +102%
5. 🇩🇿 Algeria: +84%
6. 🇲🇦 Morocco: +75%
7. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: +71%
8. 🇿🇦 South Africa: +51%
9. 🇪🇬 Egypt: +33%
10. 🇳🇬 Nigeria: −4%

Nigeria was the only country to record a decline in nominal GDP measured in US dollars, falling by $17.9 billion (4.4%) over the decade.

Sources: World Bank (2016) and IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026).