|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: King Promise, Ghana’s Artist of the Year 2025, claims Lagos is bigger than Ghana in population.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s checks reveal that Lagos is not larger than Ghana in terms of population or land area. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, Ghana’s population is approximately 30 million, and Lagos is estimated at around 17 million.
Full Text
In recent weeks, Ghana has seen a surge in Nigerian influencers visiting for tourism purposes or to meet other notable figures.
Charles Nii Armah Mensah, popularly known as Shatta Wale, held a concert to commemorate his 40th birthday celebration on Oct. 18, 2025. Some Nigerian influencers, including Big Jiggy and Peller attended this event.
In a series of hangouts with other Ghanaian artists and entertainment industry players, Peller met with King Promise, the reigning Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) Artist of the Year 2025.
In a trending video from their hangout, King Promise, also known as Gregory Bortey, claimed Ghana’s population is approximately 24 million. He also claimed that Lagos is bigger than Ghana in that regard.
“Lagos is bigger than the whole of Ghana, and it is not even the capital of Nigeria. So, if we are doing numbers-wise, it is not even fair. Because Lagos ‘don’ big pass Ghana. Ghana has 24 million people, Nigeria has 300 million people, numbers no dey work,” he said in a conversation with the Nigerian influencer.
As of Oct. 21, 2025, the video posted on X by EDHUB had garnered over 1.4 million views, 14,000 likes, 1,300 reposts, and 736 comments. Find the same claim posted on Facebook here.
DUBAWA decided to probe further due to the claim’s viral nature and potential to mislead.
Verification
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) is the regulatory authority for population and housing data, as well as micro- and macroeconomic indicators. The last population census, initially planned for 2020, was conducted in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2021 Ghanaian Population and Housing Census data, Ghana’s population was 30,832,019. This consists of 17,472,530 people residing in Urban areas and 13,359,489 in rural settlements.
To bridge the gap between censuses, which occur every decade (i.e., a decennial interval), the GSS produces population projections. The projections for 2012 to 2050 indicate that Ghana’s population is expected to increase by 6.41 million from 2021 to 2030, and by 13.63 million in 2040.
Projections of Ghana’s Population from 2021 to 2025. Image Source: Ghana Statistical Service
On the other hand, according to Page 10 of the 2020 Demographic Statistics Bulletin of the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria, the Population projection for Lagos was 12,772,884, and 13,012,971 on Page 14 of the 2021 Bulletin. In 2025, the World Population Review estimates Lagos’ population at 17,156,400.
Furthermore, according to the GSS, Ghana covers a total area of 238,533 square kilometres (sq km), comprising 227,533 sq km of land and 11,000 sq km of water. Ghana has a coastline of 539 kilometres and 2,094 kilometres of land borders. Lagos has a land area of 3,345 square kilometres, making it the smallest state in Nigeria.
Geographical representation of both Ghana and Lagos(shaded in Red). Image source: ResearchGate.net
Conclusion
Given that Lagos covers 3,345 square kilometres and has an estimated population of around 17 million people, the claim that Lagos is bigger than Ghana is false.
