In 2024, Tunis was the city with the largest population in Tunisia, with around 693,000 inhabitants. The cities of Sfax and Sousse followed with approximately 277,000 and 164,000 people, respectively. Other highly populated areas were Sousse, Kairouan, and Bizerte. Rapid urbanization in Tunisia and across Africa The Tunisian population is mostly concentrated in cities. In recent years, increasingly more people have migrated from rural areas to urban centers. In fact, having undergone rapid socio-economic and infrastructural development, cities generally offer a higher standard of living and more employment opportunities to the population. As a result, the share of people living in urban areas in the country has increased steadily, reaching almost 70 percent in 2021. Tunisia has one of the highest urbanization rates in Africa. On the continent, the most urbanized countries are Gabon and Libya, which record rates above 80 percent. In general, urbanization is increasing rapidly across Africa and is forecast to grow further in the coming years to reach 722 million people by 2026. A slowdown in population growth In 2023, the total population of Tunisia amounted to around 12 million. The number of inhabitants has risen in the last decade and is forecast to keep growing in the coming years, with the country’s population reaching 12.8 million people by 2030 and almost 14 million by 2050. Nevertheless, population growth has generally been declining in Tunisia. Decreasing natality and a high mortality rate are some factors contributing to this slowdown. For instance, the number of births dropped from 226,000 in 2014 to 173,000 in 2020. Moreover, the country has the highest death rate in the Maghreb region after Mauritania.

This statistic shows the biggest cities in Tunisia in 2023. In 2023, approximately *** thousand people lived in Tūnis, making it the biggest city in Tunisia.

Population in largest city in Tunisia was reported at 2510673 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Tunisia - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City data was reported at 2,254,227.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,218,261.000 Person for 2016. Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 1,396,315.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,254,227.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 588,271.000 Person in 1960. Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tunisia – Table TN.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Tunisia was reported at 28.85 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Tunisia - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 28.477 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 28.462 % for 2016. Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 30.919 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 37.552 % in 1960 and a record low of 28.110 % in 2004. Tunisia TN: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tunisia – Table TN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted average;

Tunisia_Major_Cities

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Commercial Banks for Tunisia (TUNFCBODCLNUM) from 2004 to 2015 about Tunisia, branches, banks, and depository institutions.

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS - TUNISIA (INS)

The National Survey on Household Budget, Consumption, and Standard of Living, 2005 is a quinquennial survey. It is the eighth survey of its kind that was carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in Tunisia. The seven previous surveys were conducted in 1968, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000, concurrently with the preparatory work for the Tunisian development plans. The 2005 survey was conducted as part of the preparation work for the Tenth Development Plan (2007-2011). Its expected findings would allow assessing the progress made in the improvements of the living level & conditions of the population.

The survey aims at providing detailed information on the procurement of goods and services for consumption (food consumption as well as household access to community services of health and education). And its data was collected from direct observation of household consumption to allow for having the necessary elements to assess the situation & changes in the living standards & conditions of the households.

Thus, the 2005 survey tackles three major areas of study: 1 - Household expenditure and acquisitions during the survey period 2 - Food consumption and nutritional status of households. 3 - Household access to community services of health and education.

The objectives of the survey are: a- Identifying levels of expenditure on the household level: The survey aims to assess the levels of household expenditure .The total expenditure of the household, is not only an indicator of income, but it is also a quantitative assessment of the standard of living index.

b- Income distribution: Due to the absence of data on income distribution, the mass distribution of expenditure between the different categories of the population constitutes a first outline for the income distribution in the country.

c- Investigating the structure of expenditure: Detailed information collected on expenditures per product used to establish the structures of the household expenditure as well as the budget coefficients according to different levels of classifications of goods in the nomenclature of goods and services. These factors coefficients are particularly useful for revision and development of the weights of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). It should also be noted that the change in expenditure structure is an indicator of the evolution of living standards.

d- Analysis of household demand: Household behavior in terms of product demand is synthesized by the coefficients of income elasticity which, according to the model of consumption retained and under the assumptions of the growth of income and population, allows predicting future household demand.

e- Resources-use balance in the national accounts: The results related to the consumption by product are necessary elements for the development of balanced resource-use of products in the frame of national accounts.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing household surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a sample of all urban, small and medium towns and rural areas.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered a national sample of households and all individuals permanently residing in surveyed households.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS - TUNISIA (INS)

Sampling method

The National Survey on Household Budget, Consumption and Standard of Living, 2005 has focused initially on a sample of 13,392 households representing 0.61% of total households in the country (61 surveyed household for every 10,000 household) . This sample is distributed across 1116 districts covering all the country governorates, cities, urban and rural areas. The sample was also equally divided on the months of the survey year to take the seasonal changes in household expenditure into account.

These households were drawn using a two stages stratified random sampling in each governorate. The sampling frame follows that of the general Census of Population and Housing in 2004.

Stratification criteria: The sampling frame is stratified by two geographical criteria: namely the governorate and the living area. The latter is stratified as follows: large municipalities, medium and small towns, major cities and the rest of the non-municipal areas. These stratification criteria (governorate, habitat and size of municipalities) represent the differentiation variable of lifestyles households. Strata used are as follows:

Stratum of large cities (stratum 1): the municipalities of the city of Tunis and its suburbs, the city of Bizerte and its suburbs, the city of Sousse and its suburbs, the city of Kairouan and its suburbs, the city Sfax and its suburbs, and the general Gabes. Thus, this stratum is formed of large urban centers corresponding to municipalities with more than 100.000 inhabitants and neighboring municipalities.

Stratum of other cities (stratum 2): This is all small and medium sized cities other than those classified in the stratum of large cities.

Stratum of the main cities (stratum 3): These are non-municipal urban areas classified as major cities during the general census of population and housing 2004 (with a population of more than 70 households).a city is considered a main city if the number of its inhabitants exceeds 400 during the census of 2004.

Stratum dispersed outside communes (stratum 4): These are areas of land located outside the main towns and cities. Households in these areas live in houses scattered or grouped in small towns.

This strata classification is closely related to the levels of household income and lifestyle.

Survey type:

The sampling frame is divided on the level of each governorate according to strata previously defined. It was set, at the level of each stratum, to make a two-stage random sampling for the selection of the household survey sample. This drawing process allows to breakdown the sample into clusters of 12 households relatively little distant from each other, thereby facilitating the conduct of the survey at the time of the information collection in the field

In the first stage: a sample of primary units is drawn in proportion to their size in number of households as they were identified. Taking into consideration that the primary units correspond to the districts that have been defined in the census of the population and these geographic areas contain on average 70 households.

In the second stage: in each sampled district, 12 households are selected according to the following method: The households in each sampled district are classified primarily according to the number of employed persons in the household. Within each category of classified households, households are also classified according to the number of persons in each household. A systematic sampling is then performed to select 12 sampled households per primary unit (sampled district). For each sampled district, another 12 households are drawn according to the same previously illustrated criteria. These households serve as a substitutive sample so that in case the interviewer failed to get in contact with the originally selected household (due to long absence- change of place of residence) , after coordinating with the supervisor, this household can be replaced by one from the substitutive sample. For this purpose, two lists of the names of head of households were developed (original list, substitutive list) that the survey is supposed to cover.

Distribution of districts and households sampled by governorates

The city of Tabarka had the highest number of rainy days in Tunisia in 2019. In that agricultural year, the area recorded *** days of rain, registering the highest amount of rainfall in the country. The capital city, Tunis-Carthage, registered ** rainy days in the same period. On the other hand, El-Borma was the driest area.

TN：最大城市人口在12-01-2017达2,254,227.000人，相较于12-01-2016的2,218,261.000人有所增长。TN：最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为1,396,315.500人，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2017，达2,254,227.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1960，为588,271.000人。CEIC提供的TN：最大城市人口数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的突尼斯 – 表 TN.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。

Lebens- und Wohnsituation in ländlichen Gemeinden Tunesienssowie der Einfluß des Fernsehens auf die ländliche Bevölkerung. Themen: Kenntnis ausgewählter Persönlichkeiten aus denBereichen Politik, Sport und Musik; präferierte Namen fürKinder (Modernitätsindex); Kinder oder Enkel ohneBeschäftigung; präferierter Beruf für die Söhne und Enkel;unverheiratete Kinder; präferierter Wohnort für die Kinder nachder Heirat; eigene Heirat sowie fühere Ehe; präferierterWohnort nach einer eigenen Heirat; Wichtigkeit des Besitzesausgewählter Einrichtungsgegenstände und Konsumgüter sowie vonGegenständen aus dem Bereich der Wohnungsausstattung;Einstellung zum Leben in einer europäischen oder amerikanischenGroßstadt als gefährlich; Kenntnis einer Person, die sich imletzten Jahr in Europa aufgehalten hat; Beurteilung des Lebensvon Politikern als leicht oder schwer; Beurteilung derWohnsituation im Ort; präferierter männlicher Kleidungsstil;präferierte Berufe (Modernitätsindex); Einstellung zurFamilienplanung; eigene Meinungsführerschaft im Ort; vermuteteHäufigkeit ausgewählter Aktivitäten von Politikern; Häufigkeitpolitischer Gespräche über die tunesische Regierung;unverheiratete Tochter; Einstellung zu einer Beschäftigung derTochter in einem modernen Großstadthotel; Beurteilung dereigenen Wohnsituation; Einhaltung der Gebetsverpflichtungeninnerhalb der Familie; präferierter weiblicher Kleidungsstil;wahrgenommene Veränderungen der Lebensbedingungen in derRegion; Zeitpunkt des letzten Besuchs eines Sozialfürsorgers imOrt; Besitz eines Fernsehgeräts bei den politischinformiertesten Personen des Ortes; Beurteilung des Lebens ineiner tunesischen Großstadt; Interesse an einem Gespräch überpersönliche Probleme mit einem Politiker; politischeGesprächspartner; vermutete Einstellung des Islams zurGeburtenkontrolle; Häufigkeit des Fersehkonsums sowie derNutzung französisch- und arabischsprachiger Fernsehprogramme;Ort des Fernsehens; soziale Situation des Fernsehens sowieAnzahl der anwesenden Personen; hauptsächliche Fernsehpartner;Dauer des Fernsehkonsums; Häufigkeit des Konsums ausgewählterFernsehprogramme; Fernsehbesitz; Recht der Frau und Kinder zumFernsehen bei Abwesenheit des Familienoberhaupts; präferierterFernsehort; Häufigkeit der Diskussion über Fernsehprogramme;Beurteilung des Fersehprogramms als geeignet für die gesamteFamilie; Fernseh- und Radiobesitz von Freunden und Nachbarn;Dauer und Häufigkeit der Radionutzung; Radiobesitz;Lesekenntnisse; Häufigkeit des Lesens von Zeitschriften;Familienstand; Haushaltsgröße; Bildungsstand; Erwerbsstatus;Beruf; Besitz ausgewählter Einrichtungsgegenstände, Konsumgütersowie von Gegenständen der Wohnungsausstattung. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Wohnort des Befragten; Ort desInterviews; Anwesenheit Dritter beim Interview; Interviewdatum;Interviewdauer; Intervieweridentifikation. Living and housing situation in rural municipalities in Tunisia and theinfluence of television on the rural population. Topics: knowledge of selected personalities from the areas ofpolitics, sport and music; preferred names for children (index ofmodernity); children or grandchildren without work; preferred work forsons or grandchildren; unmarried children; preferred place of residencefor the children after marriage; personal marriage as well as previousmarriage; preferred place of residence after personal marriage;importance of owning selected pieces of furniture and consumer goods aswell as objects from the area of home decoration; attitude to life in alarge European or American city as dangerous; knowledge of a person whospent time in Europe in the last year; judgement on the life ofpolitician as easy or difficult; judgement on the housing situation inthe city; preferred dress style for men; preferred occupations (indexof modernity); attitude to family planning; personal opinion leadershipin the city; assumed frequency of selected activities of politicians;frequency of political discussions about the Tunisian government;unmarried daughters; attitude to employment of a daughter in a moderncity hotel; judgement on personal housing situation; observingobligatory prayer within the family; preferred dress style for women;perceived changes in living conditions in the region; time of lastvisit of a welfare worker to the region; ownership of a television setby the most politically aware people in the city; judgement on life ina large Tunisian city; interest in a discussion with a politician aboutpersonal problems; political discussion partners; assumed attitude ofIslam to birth control; frequency of watching television as well as useof television programs in French and Arabic; place of television;social situation of television as well as number of people present;main television partner; length of watching television; frequency ofwatching selected programs; ownership of television; the right of wifeand children to watch television in the absence of the head ofhousehold; preferred place to watch television; frequency ofdiscussions about television programs; judgement on television programas suitable for the whole family; ownership of television and radio byfriends and neighbors; length and frequency of use of radio; ownershipof a radio; ability to read; frequency of reading magazines; maritalstatus; size of household; education level; employment status;occupation; ownership of various objects of decoration, consumer goodsand pieces of furniture. Additionally encoded were: respondent´s place of residence; place ofinterview; presence of third party during the interview; date ofinterview; length of interview; interviewer identification.

In 2024, the capital city of Tunisia, Tunis, was the safest city in Africa. It had a score of roughly **** points in the safety index, making it the African city with the lowest crime incidents. Cairo, in Egypt, and Algiers, in Algeria followed.