Lagos Nightlife has been ranked among the best in the world, with the commercial city ranking second in Africa, behind Cape Town, South Africa.
This disclosure is contained in a report by Time Out Magazine, where it revealed that nightlife in Lagos was rated positively by seventy-nine percent (79%) of locals who were interviewed.
The international magazine, in its report, noted that Lagos beat Cairo in Egypt and Marrakech, Morocco, to the third and fourth places.
Time Out Magazine, a global media and entertainment brand that focuses on inspiring and enabling people to experience the best of their cities, said that it quizzed thousands of city dwellers and consulted a panel of experts to curate a list of the planet’s best nightlife cities.
Lagos ranked 14th globally
Las Vegas, which over recent years has leaned into a more low-key night out, claimed the top spot as the city with the best nightlife globally.
The report also states that four African cities claimed a spot in the new top 20, and the first of these was Cape Town in number 11, where the ‘party scene pulses with grit, glamour, and groove.
Lagos is up next in fourteenth place, where 79% of locals rate the nightlife positively. The Nigerian city’s nightlife scene is shifting from exclusive lounges to inclusive underground raves such as SweatItOutLagos and Our Group Therapy.
Cairo follows closely behind in fifteenth place, where 79% of locals approve of the city’s nightlife scene and 72% describe it as ‘cheap or free’ or ‘affordable’. Timeout magazine, in the report, states that while history shows that Egyptians were big on beer-drinking, the culture there is much more focused around shisha tobacco and caffeine. However, cool cocktail bars have been cropping up in more expat-heavy areas.
Lastly, Marrakech, Morocco, comes in at number 19. Not only did 72% of locals positively rate Marrakech’s nightlife, but the city was also ranked as the third safest on our list.
Security architecture working in Lagos
Reacting to the rating, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, noted that this is a testimony to the security and safety of lives and property in Lagos State.
He said that this shows that the security architecture put in place by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is working.
He said, “It shows that the security architecture put in place by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is working. It speaks to the number of tourists who pour into Lagos daily and the success of the last detty December.”
He said that Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration is planning to calendarize tourism activities, which are many in the last quarter of the year. The Commissioner pointed out that this year, Lagos will make history as the first African City to host the EI (water race) Championship.
The end-of-the-year events, popularly described as detty December, always have huge positive effects on the socio-economic landscape of the State.
Omotosho said, “Nightlife, according to the magazine, takes on lots of different forms, and cities all over the world have adapted to our changing habits when it comes to going out. So, to uncover which cities are the best of the best when it comes to going out after dark in 2025, we quizzed thousands of city-dwellers and consulted a panel of experts to curate a list of the planet’s best nightlife cities.”
What you should know
Recall that in September 2024, Time Out magazine had named Lagos as the 6th best city for nightlife in 2024, ahead of Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Manchester, United Kingdom, amongst others.
Only the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Manila, Philippines, Berlin in Germany, Guadalajara, Mexico, and Austin (Texas) in the United States are ahead of Lagos in the rating made public by Time Out Magazine.
Time Out is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. It operates in 333 cities in 59 countries. It started as a London-only publication in 1968
