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.

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.

Rural population in World was reported at 3443380761 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

The average for 2024 based on 196 countries was 38.3 percent. The highest value was in Papua New Guinea: 86.12 percent and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Rural population (% of total population) in World was reported at 42.3 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

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

This comprehensive dataset, derived from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2018, provides detailed insights into the global demographic shifts from 1950 to 2050. It covers a wide range of data points including total, urban, and rural populations, alongside growth rates and urbanization trends across different regions, subregions, and countries.

Dataset Files WUP2018-F01-Total_Urban_Rural.xls: Population counts for urban and rural areas as of mid-2018, including percentages. WUP2018-F02-Proportion_Urban.xls: Historical and projected percentages of urban populations from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F03-Urban_Population.xls: Urban population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F04-Rural_Population.xls: Rural population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F05-Total_Population.xls: Total population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F06-Urban_Growth_Rate.xls: Annual urban population growth rates from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F07-Rural_Growth_Rate.xls: Annual rural population growth rates from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F08-Total_Growth_Rate.xls: Total population growth rates from 1950 to 2000. WUP2018-F09-Urbanization_Rate.xls: Changes in the rate of urbanization from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F10-Rate_Proportion_Rural.xls: Changes in the proportion of rural populations from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F18-Total_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual total population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F19-Urban_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual urban population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F20-Rural_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual rural population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F21-Proportion_Urban_Annual.xls: Detailed annual urban population percentages from 1950 to 2050. Potential Uses This dataset is invaluable for researchers, policy makers, urban planners, and sociologists interested in understanding the dynamics of urbanization and its impacts on global development. The data can be used for:

Analyzing trends in urban and rural growth. Forecasting future demographic shifts. Planning for infrastructure, services, and resources in rapidly urbanizing regions. Studying regional differences in development and urbanization.

Rural population growth (annual %) in World was reported at --0.08208 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Rural population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

Worldwide, Papua New Guinea was the country with the highest rural population in terms of share of the country's population. As of 2023, ***** percent of the Asian country's inhabitants lived in rural areas. Burundi followed in second with ***** percent, whereas ***** percent of Liechtenstein's population lived in rural areas that year. Over the past decades, the share of the global population living in rural areas decreased.

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;

Data about rural populations is extracted, downloaded, and cleaned from https://data.worldbank.org/. The data is comprised of a CSV file that contains all the data of countries from 1960 to 2020.

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.

The share of people living in rural areas varies greatly between the different regions of the world . Whereas nearly ********** of the population in South Asia lived in rural areas in 2024, this proportion was only ***** percent in North America. The decrease was especially significant in East Asia & The Pacific, where the rate fell from ********** in 1990 to less than ********** in 2024.

Context

This is simply World Bank rural population percentage data.

Content

This is the World Bank series SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS which denotes the % of the population for a country that is rural by year. Country name, ISO code, and years are the columns of note. Data is through 2016.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the efforts of the World Bank. This dataset can be found here - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?locations=PH

Inspiration

I uploaded this to see if it would aid in merging with the Kiva dataset. Please check out my own Kernel there. Thanks!

In 2024, approximately ***** percent of the population in Papua New Guinea were living in rural areas. In comparison, approximately **** percent of the population in Japan were living in rural areas that year. Urbanization and development Despite the desirable outcomes that urbanization entails, these rapid demographic shifts have also brought about unintended changes. For instance, in countries like India, rapid urbanization has led to unsustainable and crowded cities, with **** of the urban population in India estimated to live in slums. In China, population shifts from rural to urban areas have aggravated regional economic disparities. For example, the migration of workers into coastal cities has made possible the creation of urban clusters of immense economic magnitude, with the Yangtze River Delta city cluster accounting for about a ******of the country’s gross domestic product. Megacities and their future Home to roughly 60 percent of the world’s population, the Asia-Pacific region also shelters most of the globe’s largest urban agglomerations. Megacities, a term used for cities or urban areas with a population of over ten million people, are characterized by high cultural diversity and advanced infrastructure. As a result, they create better economic opportunities, and they are often hubs of innovation. For instance, many megacities in the Asia-Pacific region offer high local purchasing power to their residents. Despite challenges like pollution, income inequality, or the rising cost of living, megacities in the Asia-Pacific region have relatively high population growth rates and are expected to expand.

The Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Population Estimates consists of country-level estimates of urban, rural and total population and land area country-wide and in the LECZ, if applicable. Additionally, the data set provides the number of urban extents, their population and land area that intersect the LECZ, by city-size population classifications of less than 100,000, 100,000 to 500,000, 500,000 to 1,000,000, 1,000,000 to 5,000,000, and more than 5,000,000. All estimates are based on GRUMP Alpha data products. The LECZ was generated using SRTM Digital Elevation Model data and includes all land area that is contiguous with the coast and 10 meters or less in elevation. All grids used for population, land area, urban mask, and LECZ were of 30 arc-second (~1 km ) resolution. This data set is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

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;

The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Population Density Grid estimates population per square km for the years 1990, 1995, and 2000 by 30 arc-second (1km) grid cells and associated data sets dated circa 2000. A proportional allocation gridding algorithm, utilizing more than 1,000,000 national and sub-national geographic Units, is used to assign population values to grid cells. The population count grids are divided by the land area grid to produce population density grids. This data set is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), The World Bank, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT).

Rural population (% of total population) in Madagascar was reported at 58.77 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Madagascar - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

The average for 2024 based on 47 countries was 36.83 percent. The highest value was in Sri Lanka: 80.58 percent and the lowest value was in Hong Kong: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.