Skip to content
Nations Inquiry — home

Sub-region of Africa · Country Index 2026

Northern Africa

How are the countries of Northern Africa doing?

Half of Northern Africa’s 6 placed countries sit at or above 116th of 183 in the Country Index 2026, which places the region 18th of 22 sub-regions. Tunisia is placed highest, joint 104th; Sudan lowest, 179th. None reaches the world’s top fifth.

Share

Share this page

Northern AfricaUN M49 015

Northern Africa, shown in red on a map of the world

116th

median position of 183 · 18th of 22 sub-regions

Africa →median 148th

01Who is in it

The countries of Northern Africa

Alphabetical, with each country’s own banner photograph. The position is its place in the whole world ranking, never within the region.

02The region

About Northern Africa

The Mediterranean and Saharan north, from Morocco to Egypt and Sudan.

Northern Africa stretches along the Mediterranean from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea, and south across the Sahara to the upper Nile. Most of its land is desert, and most of its people live close to water: along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, on the plains below the Atlas Mountains, and in the narrow valley and delta of the Nile.

The region was home to ancient Egypt, one of the earliest civilisations, and later to Carthage and Roman provinces, before it became part of the Arab world and, across most of it, the Ottoman Empire. Arabic is spoken throughout, alongside Amazigh languages in the west. Its countries became independent in the twentieth century, and they are tied as closely to Europe and the Middle East across the sea as to the rest of Africa across the Sahara.

03Where

Northern Africa on the map

Each member shaded by its position in the Country Index 2026, darkest for the best placed; the countries across its land borders in grey. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile.

Country Index position: 1st183rdMember, not placedAcross the border, another regionNot a country this site tracks

04Country Index 2026

Where Northern Africa’s countries place

Best placed first. Every position is a place in the whole world ranking of 183, never a second list within the region; “=” marks a position shared with another country. Hover the ⓘ for where a country would sit if any one key statistic were dropped.

The full Country Index 2026
Northern Africa’s 6 placed countries by their Country Index 2026 position, best placed first.
In regionCountryIn the world1st183rd
1Tunisia104 / 183between 96th and 109th if any one key were dropped · standings on 16 of 16 topics
2Morocco113 / 183between 107th and 116th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
3Egypt116 / 183between 111th and 120th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
4Algeria146 / 183between 138th and 147th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
5Libya174 / 183between 170th and 178th if any one key were dropped · standings on 14 of 16 topics
6Sudan179 / 183between 176th and 180th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics

Northern Africa among the 22 sub-regions with a median

18th of 22. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

  1. Western Europe8thPlaced countries run from Switzerland 1st to France 19th.
  2. Northern Europe11thPlaced countries run from Denmark 2nd to Latvia 26th.
  3. Australia and New Zealand17thPlaced countries run from Australia 17th to New Zealand 19th.
  4. Northern America24thPlaced countries run from Canada 24th to United States 37th.
  5. Southern Europe31stPlaced countries run from Slovenia 14th to Bosnia and Herzegovina 62nd.
  6. Eastern Asia42ndPlaced countries run from South Korea 13th to Mongolia 75th.
  7. Eastern Europe43rdPlaced countries run from Czechia 10th to Russia 73rd.
  8. Central America80thPlaced countries run from Costa Rica 40th to Nicaragua 134th.
  9. Caribbean81stPlaced countries run from Barbados 67th to Haiti 173rd.
  10. South America83rdPlaced countries run from Uruguay 35th to Venezuela 133rd.
  11. South-eastern Asia86thPlaced countries run from Singapore 25th to Myanmar 159th.
  12. Polynesia89thPlaced countries run from Samoa 89th to Tonga 97th.
  13. Western Asia95thPlaced countries run from Cyprus 33rd to Yemen 181st.
  14. Central Asia102ndPlaced countries run from Kazakhstan 61st to Turkmenistan 158th.
  15. Southern Asia106thPlaced countries run from Bhutan 52nd to Afghanistan 175th.
  16. Melanesia107thPlaced countries run from Fiji 64th to Papua New Guinea 144th.
  17. Micronesia109thPlaced countries run from Kiribati 109th to Kiribati 109th.
  18. Northern Africa116thPlaced countries run from Tunisia 104th to Sudan 179th.
  19. Southern Africa121stPlaced countries run from South Africa 93rd to Eswatini 147th.
  20. Western Africa148thPlaced countries run from Cabo Verde 94th to Guinea-Bissau 171st.
  21. Eastern Africa153rdPlaced countries run from Mauritius 45th to South Sudan 183rd.
  22. Middle Africa166thPlaced countries run from São Tomé and Príncipe 115th to Chad 180th.
  23. Africa, the whole continent148th
  24. The world’s midpoint91st
1st183rdmedian

The square is each region’s median position; the grey bar runs from its best-placed to its lowest-placed country. Hover a row for their names.

05By subject

Topic by topic

Every country’s position on each topic, its shade darker the higher it sits in that topic’s field; select a cell for the country’s page on the topic. Strongest for Northern Africa: Poverty & Inequality, 9th of 21 sub-regions. Weakest: Work & Labour, 21st of 21.

All topics
Northern Africa: each country’s position on each topic, with the region’s median and its place among sub-regions.
Poverty & InequalityDigital & TechnologyFood & AgricultureEducation & KnowledgeDevelopment & Human CapitalHealth & WellbeingMobility & TradeGovernance & InstitutionsRisk & ResilienceEnvironment & SustainabilityEconomy & InnovationDemocracy & Civil LibertiesEnergyGender & EqualityPeace & SecurityWork & LabourMoney & Public FinancePeople & Population
Tunisia43 of 15981 of 19884 of 18448 of 19898 of 19690 of 200153 of 177104 of 19490 of 193108 of 186103 of 176116 of 198119 of 165146 of 183121 of 177145 of 182No standingNo standing
Morocco89 of 15977 of 19867 of 18461 of 198131 of 196102 of 20069 of 17774 of 194138 of 193137 of 186123 of 176108 of 198No standing147 of 183139 of 177166 of 182No standingNo standing
Egypt47 of 15947 of 19855 of 184121 of 19897 of 196133 of 20071 of 177110 of 194164 of 19396 of 186128 of 176172 of 198No standing162 of 183119 of 177154 of 182No standingNo standing
AlgeriaNo standing91 of 19881 of 18487 of 198100 of 196101 of 200145 of 177152 of 19496 of 193178 of 186137 of 176147 of 198132 of 165158 of 183166 of 177176 of 182No standingNo standing
LibyaNo standing174 of 198166 of 184No standing101 of 196110 of 20088 of 177183 of 194129 of 193182 of 186151 of 176174 of 198164 of 165174 of 183176 of 177158 of 182No standingNo standing
Sudan94 of 159178 of 198182 of 184190 of 198176 of 196185 of 200170 of 177187 of 194188 of 193126 of 186173 of 176184 of 19824 of 165182 of 183160 of 177No standingNo standingNo standing
Region median47th of 15981st of 19881st of 18487th of 198100th of 196102nd of 20088th of 177110th of 194129th of 193126th of 186128th of 176147th of 198119th of 165158th of 183139th of 177158th of 182——
Among sub-regions9th of 2110th of 2210th of 2211th of 2212th of 2213th of 2213th of 2215th of 2216th of 2217th of 2118th of 2120th of 2220th of 2120th of 2120th of 2021st of 21——

Columns run from the topic where Northern Africa places best among sub-regions to the one where it places lowest. A region’s median on a topic needs at least two members with a standing; a hatched cell has no standing.

06In numbers

Northern Africa in 6 numbers

Each line is every country in the world at its published value; Northern Africa’s countries are the red ticks, and the dashed line is the world median. There is no regional average: a region has countries, not a life expectancy of its own.

All statistics

  • Population

    people · log scale

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · no better end

    LibyaTunisiaMoroccoAlgeriaSudanEgypt496world median 6,541,4131,438,069,596

  • Land area

    km²

    FAO · 2024 · 221 countries · no better end

    TunisiaMoroccoEgyptLibyaSudanAlgeria0.4world median 87,58916,376,870

  • GDP per person

    international $, PPP · log scale

    World Bank Group · 2025 · 185 countries · higher is better

    SudanMoroccoTunisiaLibyaAlgeriaEgypt1,067world median 17,265139,593

  • Life expectancy

    years at birth

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · higher is better

    SudanLibyaEgyptMoroccoAlgeriaTunisia54.46world median 74.6386.37

  • Human development

    HDI, 0–1

    UNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · 193 countries · higher is better

    SudanMoroccoLibyaTunisiaEgyptAlgeria0.388world median 0.7620.972

  • Unemployment

    % of the labour force

    ILO · 2025 · 182 countries · lower is better

    No reading: Sudan

    EgyptMoroccoAlgeriaTunisiaLibya0.13world median 5.08434.2
Every value for Northern Africa’s countries
CountryPopulation 2023Land area 2024GDP per person 2025Life expectancy 2023Human development 2023Unemployment 2025
Algeria46,164,219rank 332,381,740rank 1015,883rank 10176.26rank 930.763rank 9611.63rank 27
Egypt114,535,772rank 14995,450rank 2917,265rank 9371.63rank 1440.754rank 1006.781rank 60
Libya7,305,659rank 1061,759,540rank 1614,118rank 10669.34rank 1600.721rank 11518.76rank 9
Morocco37,712,505rank 41446,300rank 559,495rank 12575.31rank 1050.71rank 1209rank 41
Sudan50,042,791rank 301,868,000rank 151,873rank 17666.33rank 1860.511rank 176—
Tunisia12,200,431rank 80155,360rank 9213,018rank 11076.51rank 890.746rank 10515.11rank 15

07In records

Northern Africa in records

The member at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where two members share the top, no record is named.

08Latest editions

Who rose and fell in the published ranks

The moves of Northern Africa’s countries between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.

Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Human Development Index: reference years 2022 (192 countries ranked) → 2023 (193 ranked), both from its 2025 report.

Improved most

rank before → after
  1. Morocco122 → 120+2

Declined most

rank before → after
  1. Libya106 → 115−9
  2. Sudan171 → 176−5
  3. Tunisia104 → 105−1
Every country in the Human Development Index

09In context

Across the border

The countries outside Northern Africa that share a land border with one of its members, with their world positions, and the sub-regions they belong to. Land borders only, as drawn on the map.

The neighbouring sub-regions

10Keep reading

Explore further

All regions

The rest of Africa

11Method

Questions, method and sources

Which countries are in Northern Africa?

6 countries and territories: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. Membership follows the United Nations’ M49 classification. The UN’s M49 classification also lists Western Sahara in Northern Africa. This site holds no statistics for it, so it has no page and no position.

Which country in Northern Africa is placed highest?

Tunisia, placed joint 104th of 183 in the Country Index 2026. Sudan is placed lowest, 179th. 6 of the region’s 6 countries and territories are placed; the rest hold standings on too few topics.

How does Northern Africa compare with other regions?

Half of its 6 placed countries sit at or above 116th of 183, which places it 18th of 22 sub-regions. The median across Africa is 148th. The middle of the whole field is 91st. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

How many people live in Northern Africa?

267,961,377 in 2023, the sum of the UN DESA Population Division’s figures for its 6 countries and territories.

What is the largest country in Northern Africa?

By land area, Algeria: 2,381,740 square kilometres (2024). By population, Egypt: 114,535,772 people (2023).

How a region’s figure is made
  1. Membership. Countries belong to regions by the United Nations’ M49 classification; each country declares its sub-region, and a continent is the sum of its sub-regions.
  2. Positions. Each country’s position is its Country Index 2026 result, unchanged. This page slices the world ranking by place; it does not re-rank anyone.
  3. The median. A region’s figure is the median of its placed countries’ positions: half sit at or above it, half below. With an even number of placed countries it takes the better of the two middle positions, since there is no country at a half place. Countries the index does not place are named, never counted in.
  4. A place among peers. Continents are compared with continents and sub-regions with sub-regions, never a part with the whole that contains it; regions sharing a median share a place. Nothing is weighted by population or size, and population and land area are the only figures ever added up.

Where the regions come from

United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49). M49’s middle level (Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean) is left out, so every sub-region sits directly under its continent. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland are not in M49 and are placed by geography.

Where the positions come from

Every position is a country’s result in the Country Index 2026 or one of its topics, unchanged. The population and land-area figures are the UN DESA Population Division’s and the FAO’s, added up and shown with their year; every other statistic names its publisher beside its numbers.

Photographs

Each country’s own banner from its profile: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Northern Africa: countries, population and rankings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/regions/northern-africa

Feedback

Feedback

How are we doing?

Two answers are required — a rating and your email. The rest is up to you.