Over the past three decades, the share of the global population living in rural areas has decreased continuously. Since 2007, less than **** of the world's population lived in rural areas, a share that had dropped to ***** percent as of 2023. The urbanization is expected to continue over the coming decades.

United States US: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 17.942 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 18.138 % for 2016. United States US: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 24.985 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.004 % in 1960 and a record low of 17.942 % in 2017. United States US: Rural Population: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Weighted average;

2007 marked the first year where more of the world's population lived in an urban setting than a rural setting. In 1960, roughly a third of the world lived in an urban setting; it is expected that this figure will reach two thirds by 2050. Urbanization is a fairly new phenomenon; for the vast majority of human history, fewer than five percent of the world lived in urban areas, due to the dependency on subsistence agriculture. Advancements in agricultural practices and technology then coincided with the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe in the late 19th century, which resulted in waves of urbanization to meet the demands of emerging manufacturing industries. This trend was replicated across the rest of the world as it industrialized over the following two centuries, and the most significant increase coincided with the industrialization of the most populous countries in Asia. In more developed economies, urbanization remains high even as economies de-industrialize, due to a variety of factors such as housing availability, labor demands in service industries, and social trends.

Rural population (% of total population) in Costa Rica was reported at 17.38 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Costa Rica - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Rural population (% of total population) in United States was reported at 16.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Historical chart and dataset showing World rural population by year from 1960 to 2023.

Rural population (% of total population) in China was reported at 35.43 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Historical chart and dataset showing U.S. rural population by year from 1960 to 2023.

The urban–rural continuum classifies the global population, allocating rural populations around differently-sized cities. The classification is based on four dimensions: population distribution, population density, urban center location, and travel time to urban centers, all of which can be mapped globally and consistently and then aggregated as administrative unit statistics.Using spatial data, we matched all rural locations to their urban center of reference based on the time needed to reach these urban centers. A hierarchy of urban centers by population size (largest to smallest) is used to determine which center is the point of “reference” for a given rural location: proximity to a larger center “dominates” over a smaller one in the same travel time category. This was done for 7 urban categories and then aggregated, for presentation purposes, into “large cities” (over 1 million people), “intermediate cities” (250,000 –1 million), and “small cities and towns” (20,000–250,000).Finally, to reflect the diversity of population density across the urban–rural continuum, we distinguished between high-density rural areas with over 1,500 inhabitants per km2 and lower density areas. Unlike traditional functional area approaches, our approach does not define urban catchment areas by using thresholds, such as proportion of people commuting; instead, these emerge endogenously from our urban hierarchy and by calculating the shortest travel time.Urban-Rural Catchment Areas (URCA).tif is a raster dataset of the 30 urban–rural continuum categories for the urban–rural continuum showing the catchment areas around cities and towns of different sizes. Each rural pixel is assigned to one defined travel time category: less than one hour, one to two hours, and two to three hours travel time to one of seven urban agglomeration sizes. The agglomerations range from large cities with i) populations greater than 5 million and ii) between 1 to 5 million; intermediate cities with iii) 500,000 to 1 million and iv) 250,000 to 500,000 inhabitants; small cities with populations v) between 100,000 and 250,000 and vi) between 50,000 and 100,000; and vii) towns of between 20,000 and 50,000 people. The remaining pixels that are more than 3 hours away from any urban agglomeration of at least 20,000 people are considered as either hinterland or dispersed towns being that they are not gravitating around any urban agglomeration. The raster also allows for visualizing a simplified continuum created by grouping the seven urban agglomerations into 4 categories.Urban-Rural Catchment Areas (URCA).tif is in GeoTIFF format, band interleaved with LZW compression, suitable for use in Geographic Information Systems and statistical packages. The data type is byte, with pixel values ranging from 1 to 30. The no data value is 128. It has a spatial resolution of 30 arc seconds, which is approximately 1km at the equator. The spatial reference system (projection) is EPSG:4326 - WGS84 - Geographic Coordinate System (lat/long). The geographic extent is 83.6N - 60S / 180E - 180W. The same tif file is also available as an ESRI ArcMap MapPackage Urban-Rural Catchment Areas.mpkFurther details are in the ReadMe_data_description.docx

Burundi BI: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 85.216 % in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 85.583 % for 2022. Burundi BI: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 93.454 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 97.923 % in 1960 and a record low of 85.216 % in 2023. Burundi BI: Rural Population: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Burundi – Table BI.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.;World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.;Weighted average;

In 2023, there were approximately ***** million people living in rural areas in the United States, while about ****** million people were living in urban areas. Within the provided time period, the number of people living in urban U.S. areas has increased significantly since totaling only ****** million in 1960.

Mexico MX: Rural Population data was reported at 26,004,442.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 26,047,581.000 Person for 2016. Mexico MX: Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 24,277,581.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26,101,387.000 Person in 2013 and a record low of 18,799,605.000 Person in 1960. Mexico MX: Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Sum;

Mali ML: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 58.428 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 59.217 % for 2016. Mali ML: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 77.309 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 88.934 % in 1960 and a record low of 58.428 % in 2017. Mali ML: Rural Population: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mali – Table ML.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Weighted average;

Historical chart and dataset showing India rural population by year from 1960 to 2023.

Rural population (% of total population) in India was reported at 63.64 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a map consisting of two condensed maps showing the distribution of rural population according to the 1951 census of Canada. The term 'rural population' embraces all persons residing outside the census metropolitan areas and cities, towns and villages of 1000 inhabitants and over, whether such cities, towns and villages were incorporated or not. The distribution is shown according to the two divisions of rural population commonly made, namely, rural farm and rural non-farm. The rural farm population comprises all people residing on a farm regardless of occupation. A farm for such purposes is defined as a land holding of over three acres in size on which agricultural operations are carried out, or a land holding from one to three acres in size, which in 1950 accounted for an agricultural production amounting to $250 or more. All other persons classed as rural population come under the rural non-farm division. The northern parts of Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories are not included on the rural non-farm map although there are some rural non-farm dwellers in these areas. In 1951, Canada's rural population was 52.5% rural farm, and 47.5% rural non-farm.

China rural population for 2023 was 499,814,553, a 2.87% decline from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>China rural population for 2022 was <strong>514,596,570</strong>, a <strong>2.81% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>China rural population for 2021 was <strong>529,465,517</strong>, a <strong>2.72% decline</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>China rural population for 2020 was <strong>544,289,492</strong>, a <strong>2.59% decline</strong> from 2019.</li>
</ul>Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

Brazil BR: Rural Population data was reported at 26,429,509.000 Person in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 26,795,765.000 Person for 2022. Brazil BR: Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 38,546,226.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 42,653,748.000 Person in 1973 and a record low of 26,429,509.000 Person in 2023. Brazil BR: Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.;World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.;Sum;

Slovakia SK: Rural Population data was reported at 2,515,896.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,508,703.000 Person for 2016. Slovakia SK: Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 2,420,360.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,768,470.000 Person in 1961 and a record low of 2,292,084.000 Person in 1991. Slovakia SK: Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Slovakia – Table SK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Sum;

Trinidad and Tobago TT: Rural Population: % of Total Population data was reported at 91.730 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 91.648 % for 2016. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Rural Population: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 89.833 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 91.730 % in 2017 and a record low of 82.651 % in 1960. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Rural Population: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Trinidad and Tobago – Table TT.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2014 Revision.; Weighted average;