The average for 2024 based on 53 countries was 50.8 percent. The highest value was in Burundi: 84.84 percent and the lowest value was in Gabon: 8.69 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Eastern Africa was the region with the highest share of people living in rural areas in Africa. In 2023, almost 70 percent of the population in the region resided in rural areas. On the other hand, some 34 percent of the individuals in Southern Africa lived in rural areas, the lowest on the continent.

Around 803 million people on the African continent lived in rural areas as of 2023. The rural population has been increasing annually. At the beginning of the 21st century, the continent's rural population was nearly 532 million.

In 2023, the share of people living in rural areas in Africa dropped to nearly 55 percent. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the share of the rural population in the total population has followed a declining trend. On the other hand, during the same period, the urbanization rate on the continent rose, although it remained below 50 percent.

In 2023, Burundi ranked first by share of rural population among the 54 countries presented in the ranking. Burundi's share amounted to 85.22 percent, while Niger and Rwanda, the second and third countries, had records amounting to 82.95 percent and 82.11 percent, respectively.

South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area data was reported at 53,460.313 sq km in 2010. This stayed constant from the previous number of 53,460.313 sq km for 2000. South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area data is updated yearly, averaging 53,460.313 sq km from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2010, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 53,460.313 sq km in 2010 and a record low of 53,460.313 sq km in 2010. South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Rural land area in square kilometers, derived from urban extent grids which distinguish urban and rural areas based on a combination of population counts (persons), settlement points, and the presence of Nighttime Lights. Areas are defined as urban where contiguous lighted cells from the Nighttime Lights or approximated urban extents based on buffered settlement points for which the total population is greater than 5,000 persons.; ; Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.; Sum;

Rural population (% of total population) in South Africa was reported at 30.7 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

This data shows the number of people who have access with water in rural areas. The coverage of this data is Tanzania mainland

South Africa ZA: Rural Population Growth data was reported at -0.235 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of -0.168 % for 2016. South Africa ZA: Rural Population Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 1.217 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.679 % in 1972 and a record low of -0.329 % in 2008. South Africa ZA: Rural Population Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.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;

This dataset is about countries in Africa. It has 54 rows. It features 3 columns: rural land area, and rural population.

Africa Rural Population Dataset

  Dataset Summary

This dataset provides annual rural population counts for 54 African countries from 1960 to 2024.The data originates from the World Bank Development Indicators (indicator code SP.RUR.TOTL) and has been cleaned and re-formatted for machine-learning workflows.

  Source & Collection

Original source: World Bank Open Data – Rural population (SP.RUR.TOTL)Data accessed via Excel download and processed on 2025-08-07.… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/Africa-Rural-Population-Dataset.

This dataset is the result of a phone survey set up to measure the impact of COVID-19 on rural people in Ghana. As most governments have urged the population to stay at home to slow down the transmission of the disease, the impact of COVID-19 can affect women and men in different ways: as an income shock (directly or indirectly); as a health and caring shock; as a shock of mobility (affecting access to water, food, firewood, schooling); and as a risk of increased domestic conflict and violence. To capture these various effects on household welfare, this phone survey was conducted with (around) 500 individuals randomly drawn from an existing list of phone numbers collected from previous household surveys with an equal proportion of women and men. The same individuals were also interviewed during other rounds to generate a longitudinal panel allowing to analyze the impact of COVID-19 through time.

This scatter chart displays rural land area (km²) against rural population (people) in Africa. The data is about countries.

This dataset is about countries in Middle Africa. It has 10 rows. It features 3 columns: rural land area, and rural population.

This dataset is about countries in Western Africa. It has 16 rows. It features 3 columns: rural land area, and rural population.

This dataset is the result of a phone survey set up to measure the impact of COVID-19 on rural people in Uganda. As most governments have urged the population to stay at home to slow down the transmission of the disease, the impact of COVID-19 can affect women and men in different ways: as an income shock (directly or indirectly); as a health and caring shock; as a shock of mobility (affecting access to water, food, firewood, schooling); and as a risk of increased domestic conflict and violence. To capture these various effects on household welfare, this phone survey was conducted with (around) 1000 individuals randomly drawn from an existing list of phone numbers collected from previous household surveys with an equal proportion of women and men. The same individuals were also interviewed during other rounds to generate a longitudinal panel allowing to analyze the impact of COVID-19 through time.

This dataset is the result of a phone survey set up to measure the impact of COVID-19 on rural people in Kenya. As most governments have urged the population to stay at home to slow down the transmission of the disease, the impact of COVID-19 can affect women and men in different ways: as an income shock (directly or indirectly); as a health and caring shock; as a shock of mobility (affecting access to water, food, firewood, schooling); and as a risk of increased domestic conflict and violence. To capture these various effects on household welfare, this phone survey was conducted with (around) 600 individuals randomly drawn from an existing list of phone numbers collected from previous household surveys with an equal proportion of women and men. The same individuals were also interviewed during other rounds to generate a longitudinal panel allowing to analyze the impact of COVID-19 through time.

South Africa ZA: Rural Population data was reported at 19,368,909.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 19,414,403.000 Person for 2016. South Africa ZA: Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 17,726,563.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19,799,952.000 Person in 2003 and a record low of 9,318,644.000 Person in 1960. South Africa ZA: Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.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;

Historical dataset showing Africa rural population by year from N/A to N/A.

South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data was reported at 0.055 % in 2010. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.055 % for 2000. South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data is updated yearly, averaging 0.055 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2010, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.055 % in 2010 and a record low of 0.055 % in 2010. South Africa ZA: Rural Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Rural land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the rural land elevation is 5 meters or less.; ; Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.; Weighted Average;