Flowminder, in partnership with Vodacom Congo, has released new population mobility datasets, derived from pseudonymised mobile operator metadata, revealing how internal mobility is reshaping population distribution across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Covering every month from March 2020 to December 2025, the estimates provide an unprecedented picture of how economic opportunities, seasonal migration and conflict-driven displacement are transforming the country’s demographic landscape.
Population inflows likely associated with mining activity in southern DRC
In the mining-intensive province of Haut-Katanga, as well as in the Manika health zone of Lualaba - home to Kolwezi, one of the country’s largest mining hubs - the new estimates point to substantial population growth compared to official demographic projections.
These estimates exceed official projections anticipating an average annual growth rate of 3.3%. Between December 2024 and December 2025 alone, the estimates suggest population growth of +3.9% in Haut-Katanga (equivalent to an additional 258,600 people, of whom approximately 40,500 are attributable solely to internal mobility) and +6.7% in the Manika health zone (equivalent to an additional 47,600 people, of whom approximately 23,000 are due to internal mobility), particularly due to large arrivals between February and September 2025. Much of this growth reflects population inflows from neighbouring provinces.
Such population movements are likely associated with mining activity in these provinces. These dynamics have important implications for planning and service provision in rapidly growing areas, particularly in the immunisation space where many zero-dose and under-vaccinated children now need to be reached by host health zones.
— Apphia Yuma, Flowminder’s DRC Country Manager.
Displacement remains high in eastern DRC amid ongoing conflict
While populations are increasing in economically dynamic regions in the south, the estimates show continued population losses in conflict-affected areas of eastern DRC. Ongoing insecurity in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri continues to drive high levels of displacement and it’s worth noting that very often, displacements of this nature happen on a very local scale, within provinces and health zones.
Between December 2024 and December 2025, the estimated populations in North Kivu and South Kivu remained approximately - 30,600 and -5,600 people below projections that do not account for mobility, while Ituri saw an increase of +14,700, majoritarily coming from neighbouring provinces. More recently, Bunia in Ituri saw the arrivals of large numbers of people in August and September 2025 (+13,500 across the two months), while in December 2025, significant departures (around 12,300 people) were observed from Uvira, primarily towards neighbouring areas including Fizi, Ruzizi and Nundu.
The first DRC-wide population dataset to account for internal mobility, covering monthly trends from March 2020 to December 2025
This release represents the first DRC-wide population dataset to systematically account for internal mobility, covering trends on a monthly basis from March 2020 to December 2025, for the health zones with sufficient data coverage.
The data highlight the highly dynamic nature of population movement across the country, with higher mobility during the long dry season (July–September), when 400,000-600,000 more people are recorded moving around the country than during other periods of the year.
The estimates also capture the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a marked decline (approximately 20%) in population movements during the 2020 long dry season compared with subsequent years.
These estimates are derived from Vodacom Congo’s anonymised and aggregated mobile operator metadata to estimate how people move around the country over time.
From conflict-driven displacement in eastern Congo to economic shifts and seasonal migration, the dataset provides a unique evidence base for understanding how mobility reshapes population distribution.
These insights can support decision-making across multiple sectors, including humanitarian response and preparedness for conflict- or climate-related hazards, as well as public health planning, such as vaccination strategies and service delivery.
Reports are now available on our website here. A live webinar will be hosted mid-March to present the data up to 28 February 2025.