* Africa’s population hit the 1 billion mark in 2010, with annual growth rates at 2.0 percent and 1.6 percent in Northern and Southern Africa, respectively, 2.5 percent and 2.7 percent in Western and Middle Africa, respectively, and the African average at about 2.4 per cent.
* Africans are expected to number 2 billion by 2050.
* Africa has the second highest population after Asia.
* Africa accounts for 14 percent of the world’s population.
* There are more than 200 million youth in Africa, comprising more than 20 percent of the continent’s population.
* Close to 70 percent of Africa's population is aged below 25, making it the youngest continent in the world. For example, in Kenya, young people are close to 75 percent of the population.
* Uganda has the youngest population in the world, with a fertility rate of 6.2 children.
* Rates of urbanization in Africa are the highest in the world. By 2020, 66 percent of the continent’s population are expected to live in cities and be of working age.
* Poverty levels of Africa’s population are expected to decline to 20 percent by 2020, from around 43 percent in 1995.
* Africa presents the highest proportion of illiterate youth in the world, estimated at about 25 percent, according to the African Developmetn Bank's 2013 Economic Outlook. Estimates suggest that about 133 million young people, accounting for over 50 percent of the youth population in Africa, lack formal education.
* About five million graduates are produced annually by African universities.
