Largest Cities in Nigeria 2026: Population Ranking

Nigeria's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Lagos in orange

Nigeria has 13 cities with more than a million inhabitants and 96 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Lagos with 15,388,000 people, followed by Kano (4,910,000) and Ibadan (3,649,000). The three largest cities together hold about 9.8% of the country's 243.9 million people.

The capital, Abuja, is the 4th largest city with 2,690,000 people — Lagos is 5.7× larger.

By region, the most large cities are in Osun State (13), Oyo State (7), Anambra (5).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the Nigeria population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the Nigeria atlas.

Nigeria cities by population

96 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of Nigeria
1	Lagos	Lagos	15,388,000	6.3%
2	Kano	Kano State	4,910,000	2%
3	Ibadan	Oyo State	3,649,000	1.5%
4	AbujaCapital	FCT	2,690,000	1.1%
5	Port Harcourt	Rivers State	2,120,000	0.9%
6	Kaduna	Kaduna State	1,850,000	0.8%
7	Benin City	Edo State	1,782,000	0.7%
8	Onitsha	Anambra	1,553,000	0.6%
9	Aba	Abia State	1,160,000	0.5%
10	Maiduguri	Borno State	1,110,000	0.5%
11	Ilorin	Kwara State	1,080,000	0.4%
12	Sokoto	Sokoto	1,040,000	0.4%
13	Jos	Plateau State	1,040,000	0.4%
14	Zaria	Kaduna State	980,000	0.4%
15	Enugu	Enugu State	950,000	0.4%
16	Warri	Delta	910,000	0.4%
17	Oyo	Oyo State	736,072	0.3%
18	Abeokuta	Ogun State	735,000	0.3%
19	Akure	Ondo State	730,000	0.3%
20	Bauchi	Bauchi	693,700	0.3%
21	Katsina	Katsina State	670,000	0.3%
22	Osogbo	Osun State	645,000	0.3%
23	Ile-Ife	Osun State	560,000	0.2%
24	Gombe	Gombe State	560,000	0.2%
25	Ogbia	Bayelsa State	549,774	0.2%
26	Owerri	Imo State	545,000	0.2%
27	Calabar	Cross River State	540,000	0.2%
28	Okene	Kogi State	479,178	0.2%
29	Ikare	Ondo State	465,000	0.2%
30	Yola	Adamawa	460,000	0.2%
31	Uyo	Akwa Ibom State	436,606	0.2%
32	Ado-Ekiti	Ekiti State	435,000	0.2%
33	Ogbomoso	Oyo State	433,030	0.2%
34	Minna	Niger State	425,000	0.2%
35	Bida	Niger State	400,000	0.2%
36	Makurdi	Benue State	390,000	0.2%
37	Ondo	Ondo State	375,000	0.2%
38	Umuahia	Abia State	370,000	0.2%
39	Iseyin	Oyo State	365,300	0.1%
40	Yenagoa	Bayelsa State	365,000	0.1%
41	Gboko	Benue State	365,000	0.1%
42	Ijebu Ode	Ogun State	360,000	0.1%
43	Ilesa	Osun State	325,000	0.1%
44	Sapele	Delta	305,000	0.1%
45	Efon-Alaaye	Ekiti State	279,319	0.1%
46	Owo	Ondo State	276,574	0.1%
47	Ikot Ekpene	Akwa Ibom State	254,806	0.1%
48	Ota	Ogun State	251,546	0.1%
49	Iwo	Osun State	250,443	0.1%
50	Jimeta	Adamawa	248,148	0.1%
51	Atani	Anambra	230,000	0.1%
52	Gusau	Zamfara State	226,857	0.1%
53	Mubi	Adamawa	225,705	0.1%
54	Ikire	Osun State	222,160	0.1%
55	Shagamu	Ogun State	214,558	0.1%
56	Ugep	Cross River State	200,276	0.1%
57	Chakwama	Jigawa State	200,000	0.1%
58	Nnewi	Anambra	193,987	0.1%
59	Ise-Ekiti	Ekiti State	190,063	0.1%
60	Ila Orangun	Osun State	179,192	0.1%
61	Saki	Oyo State	178,677	0.1%
62	Awka	Anambra	167,738	0.1%
63	Ijero-Ekiti	Ekiti State	167,632	0.1%
64	Inisa	Osun State	164,161	0.1%
65	Suleja	Niger State	162,135	0.1%
66	Ede	Osun State	159,866	0.1%
67	Kisi	Oyo State	155,510	0.1%
68	Gbongan	Osun State	139,485	0.1%
69	Ejigbo	Osun State	138,357	0.1%
70	Funtua	Katsina State	136,811	0.1%
71	Igboho	Oyo State	136,764	0.1%
72	Buguma	Rivers State	135,404	0.1%
73	Ikirun	Osun State	134,240	0.1%
74	Abakaliki	Ebonyi State	134,102	0.1%
75	Okrika	Rivers State	133,271	0.1%
76	Amaigbo	Abia State	127,300	0.1%
77	Lafia	Nasarawa State	127,236	0.1%
78	Gashua	Yobe State	125,817	0.1%
79	Modakeke	Osun State	119,529	0%
80	Bama	Borno State	118,121	0%
81	Ilobu	Osun State	118,089	0%
82	Jalingo	Taraba State	117,757	0%
83	Okigwe	Imo State	115,499	0%
84	Offa	Kwara State	113,830	0%
85	Esuk Oron	Akwa Ibom State	112,033	0%
86	Nsukka	Enugu State	111,017	0%
87	Nguru	Yobe State	111,014	0%
88	Hadejia	Jigawa State	110,753	0%
89	Ijebu-Igbo	Ogun State	109,261	0%
90	Uromi	Edo State	108,608	0%
91	Birnin Kebbi	Kebbi	108,164	0%
92	Pindiga	Gombe State	106,322	0%
93	Azare	Bauchi	105,687	0%
94	Nkpor	Anambra	103,733	0%
95	Ikere-Ekiti	Ekiti State	103,054	0%
96	Lafiagi	Kwara State	102,779	0%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Nigeria?

Lagos, with about 15,388,000 inhabitants (city proper). It is larger than the capital, Abuja (2,690,000).

What is the capital of Nigeria?

Abuja — population 2,690,000, the 4th largest city in the country.

How many cities in Nigeria have over one million people?

13: Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Benin City, Onitsha, Aba, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Sokoto, Jos.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

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Glostats. (2026). Largest Cities in Nigeria 2026: Population Ranking. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://glostats.com/cities/nigeria/

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Figures on this page may be quoted, charted or republished as long as the page is credited with a link. Terms · Download the data as CSV · Embed a live counter.

City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.