Rural population — all countries

Rural population — High-income countries

Rural population in high-income countries in 2025 — 273,580,704 people. Since 1960, the indicator has fallen by 19.4%.

2025 274M people −0.16% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 339M people1960
Period minimum 273M people2011

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — High-income countries, 1960–2025260M280M300M320M340M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 339,477,042 people1962: 336,814,857 people1964: 333,164,551 people1966: 328,332,088 people1968: 323,159,595 people1970: 318,612,700 people1972: 315,728,700 people1974: 312,033,224 people1976: 309,896,689 people1978: 308,767,646 people1980: 307,258,845 people1982: 305,815,761 people1984: 304,129,175 people1986: 302,142,624 people1988: 299,885,590 people1990: 298,358,224 people1992: 298,231,259 people1994: 297,210,342 people1996: 294,793,253 people1998: 292,324,119 people2000: 290,693,984 people2002: 286,586,070 people2004: 280,930,115 people2006: 276,944,410 people2008: 274,504,944 people2010: 272,980,666 people2012: 273,108,377 people2014: 273,401,641 people2016: 273,946,488 people2018: 274,327,529 people2020: 274,546,564 people2022: 273,231,400 people2024: 274,031,979 people2025: 273,580,704 people
Change over the period: −65.9M (−19.41%) Average annual rate: -0.33 %

Comparison, 2025

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: High-income countries

High-income countries 274M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — High-income countries, by year High-income countries All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 274M −451,275 −0.16%
2024 274M +357,461 +0.13%
2023 274M +443,118 +0.16%
2022 273M −55,009 −0.02%
2021 273M −1.26M −0.46%
2020 275M +44,282 +0.02%
2019 275M +174,753 +0.06%
2018 274M +36,919 +0.01%
2017 274M +344,122 +0.13%
2016 274M +188,526 +0.07%
2015 274M +356,321 +0.13%
2014 273M +176,614 +0.06%
2013 273M +116,650 +0.04%
2012 273M +298,572 +0.11%
2011 273M −170,861 −0.06%
2010 273M −819,783 −0.3%
2009 274M −704,495 −0.26%
2008 275M −1.04M −0.38%
2007 276M −1.39M −0.5%
2006 277M −1.76M −0.63%
2005 279M −2.23M −0.79%
2004 281M −2.69M −0.95%
2003 284M −2.97M −1.04%
2002 287M −2.51M −0.87%
2001 289M −1.6M −0.55%
2000 291M −1.22M −0.42%
1999 292M −410,126 −0.14%
1998 292M −1.07M −0.36%
1997 293M −1.4M −0.48%
1996 295M −1.43M −0.48%
1995 296M −986,905 −0.33%
1994 297M −806,138 −0.27%
1993 298M −214,779 −0.07%
1992 298M +59,427 +0.02%
1991 298M −186,392 −0.06%
1990 298M −591,406 −0.2%
1989 299M −935,960 −0.31%
1988 300M −1.13M −0.37%
1987 301M −1.13M −0.37%
1986 302M −1.06M −0.35%
1985 303M −928,921 −0.31%
1984 304M −835,463 −0.27%
1983 305M −851,123 −0.28%
1982 306M −814,443 −0.27%
1981 307M −628,641 −0.2%
1980 307M −940,270 −0.31%
1979 308M −568,531 −0.18%
1978 309M −440,215 −0.14%
1977 309M −688,828 −0.22%
1976 310M −950,102 −0.31%
1975 311M −1.19M −0.38%
1974 312M −1.79M −0.57%
1973 314M −1.91M −0.6%
1972 316M −1.76M −0.55%
1971 317M −1.13M −0.35%
1970 319M −2.05M −0.64%
1969 321M −2.5M −0.77%
1968 323M −2.57M −0.79%
1967 326M −2.6M −0.79%
1966 328M −2.7M −0.82%
1965 331M −2.13M −0.64%
1964 333M −1.96M −0.58%
1963 335M −1.69M −0.5%
1962 337M −1.32M −0.39%
1961 338M −1.34M −0.4%
1960 339M

About the indicator

The population living outside urban settlements. In the catalog this quantity was present only as a share, while the absolute number shows what the share does not: the world's rural population stopped growing only in the 2020s and still exceeds three billion people, even though the share has been falling for half a century. Each country defines a city itself, so cross-country comparisons of this series call for caution.

Important: It is computed as the difference between total and urban population, and the criterion for a city is national: in some places it is a settlement of two thousand residents, in others twenty thousand. Comparing the trend within a country is more reliable than comparing countries with each other.

Source: World Population Prospects (UN), license CC BY 3.0 IGO.