Rural population — all countries

Rural population — Middle East & North Africa

Rural population in Middle East & North Africa in 2025 — 364,698,267 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 228.5%.

2025 365M people +1.23% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 365M people2025
Period minimum 111M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — Middle East & North Africa, 1960–20250100M200M300M400M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 111,035,558 people1962: 114,863,742 people1964: 118,980,631 people1966: 123,651,647 people1968: 128,536,048 people1970: 133,655,395 people1972: 138,718,454 people1974: 144,194,986 people1976: 150,459,563 people1978: 157,056,610 people1980: 164,023,716 people1982: 170,989,909 people1984: 179,130,623 people1986: 187,750,000 people1988: 196,729,685 people1990: 206,985,461 people1992: 216,776,771 people1994: 226,728,364 people1996: 236,044,879 people1998: 244,928,037 people2000: 253,861,074 people2002: 262,864,295 people2004: 272,586,044 people2006: 282,785,929 people2008: 293,004,442 people2010: 303,063,449 people2012: 311,322,747 people2014: 317,741,535 people2016: 325,919,197 people2018: 334,181,191 people2020: 342,793,616 people2022: 351,076,432 people2024: 360,273,052 people2025: 364,698,267 people
Change over the period: +254M (+228.45%) Average annual rate: 1.85 %

Comparison, 2025

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Middle East & North Africa

Middle East & North Africa 365M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — Middle East & North Africa, by year Middle East & North Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 365M +4.43M +1.23%
2024 360M +4.7M +1.32%
2023 356M +4.5M +1.28%
2022 351M +4.28M +1.23%
2021 347M +4.01M +1.17%
2020 343M +4.42M +1.31%
2019 338M +4.2M +1.26%
2018 334M +4.16M +1.26%
2017 330M +4.1M +1.26%
2016 326M +4.07M +1.26%
2015 322M +4.11M +1.29%
2014 318M +3.63M +1.16%
2013 314M +2.79M +0.9%
2012 311M +3.57M +1.16%
2011 308M +4.69M +1.55%
2010 303M +4.82M +1.62%
2009 298M +5.24M +1.79%
2008 293M +5.1M +1.77%
2007 288M +5.12M +1.81%
2006 283M +5.26M +1.9%
2005 278M +4.94M +1.81%
2004 273M +4.86M +1.82%
2003 268M +4.86M +1.85%
2002 263M +4.64M +1.8%
2001 258M +4.36M +1.72%
2000 254M +4.37M +1.75%
1999 249M +4.56M +1.86%
1998 245M +4.53M +1.89%
1997 240M +4.35M +1.84%
1996 236M +4.68M +2.02%
1995 231M +4.63M +2.04%
1994 227M +4.84M +2.18%
1993 222M +5.11M +2.36%
1992 217M +4.86M +2.29%
1991 212M +4.93M +2.38%
1990 207M +5.5M +2.73%
1989 201M +4.75M +2.42%
1988 197M +4.59M +2.39%
1987 192M +4.39M +2.34%
1986 188M +4.36M +2.38%
1985 183M +4.26M +2.38%
1984 179M +4.18M +2.39%
1983 175M +3.96M +2.32%
1982 171M +3.54M +2.11%
1981 167M +3.43M +2.09%
1980 164M +3.52M +2.2%
1979 160M +3.44M +2.19%
1978 157M +3.38M +2.2%
1977 154M +3.22M +2.14%
1976 150M +3.27M +2.22%
1975 147M +3M +2.08%
1974 144M +2.79M +1.97%
1973 141M +2.69M +1.94%
1972 139M +2.53M +1.86%
1971 136M +2.53M +1.89%
1970 134M +2.58M +1.97%
1969 131M +2.54M +1.98%
1968 129M +2.49M +1.98%
1967 126M +2.39M +1.93%
1966 124M +2.41M +1.99%
1965 121M +2.26M +1.9%
1964 119M +2.11M +1.81%
1963 117M +2.01M +1.75%
1962 115M +1.93M +1.7%
1961 113M +1.9M +1.71%
1960 111M

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.