Rural population — all countries

Rural population — OPEC

Rural population in OPEC in 2025 — 143,809,261 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 103.6%.

2025 144M people +0.14% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 144M people2025
Period minimum 70.63M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — OPEC, 1960–202560M80M100M120M140M160M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 70,631,621 people1962: 72,425,634 people1964: 74,335,848 people1966: 76,456,964 people1968: 78,401,963 people1970: 80,498,966 people1972: 82,694,816 people1974: 85,172,819 people1976: 88,387,920 people1978: 91,715,155 people1980: 95,236,840 people1982: 99,392,514 people1984: 102,502,060 people1986: 105,999,910 people1988: 109,454,335 people1990: 112,759,399 people1992: 115,582,117 people1994: 117,458,661 people1996: 119,524,083 people1998: 121,246,426 people2000: 123,156,934 people2002: 125,151,550 people2004: 127,357,574 people2006: 129,803,567 people2008: 131,975,751 people2010: 134,221,321 people2012: 136,802,518 people2014: 139,240,186 people2016: 141,160,551 people2018: 142,025,568 people2020: 142,510,866 people2022: 142,890,367 people2024: 143,611,327 people2025: 143,809,261 people
Change over the period: +73.18M (+103.6%) Average annual rate: 1.1 %

Comparison, 2025

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: OPEC

OPEC 144M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — OPEC, by year OPEC All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 144M +197,934 +0.14%
2024 144M +310,133 +0.22%
2023 143M +410,827 +0.29%
2022 143M +441,537 +0.31%
2021 142M −62,036 −0.04%
2020 143M +296,870 +0.21%
2019 142M +188,428 +0.13%
2018 142M +290,578 +0.21%
2017 142M +574,439 +0.41%
2016 141M +907,726 +0.65%
2015 140M +1.01M +0.73%
2014 139M +1.06M +0.77%
2013 138M +1.38M +1.01%
2012 137M +1.33M +0.98%
2011 135M +1.25M +0.93%
2010 134M +975,861 +0.73%
2009 133M +1.27M +0.96%
2008 132M +1.14M +0.87%
2007 131M +1.03M +0.79%
2006 130M +1.2M +0.93%
2005 129M +1.25M +0.98%
2004 127M +1.22M +0.97%
2003 126M +987,780 +0.79%
2002 125M +924,736 +0.74%
2001 124M +1.07M +0.87%
2000 123M +997,975 +0.82%
1999 122M +912,533 +0.75%
1998 121M +933,407 +0.78%
1997 120M +788,936 +0.66%
1996 120M +1.07M +0.91%
1995 118M +991,601 +0.84%
1994 117M +896,548 +0.77%
1993 117M +979,996 +0.85%
1992 116M +1.22M +1.07%
1991 114M +1.6M +1.42%
1990 113M +1.62M +1.45%
1989 111M +1.69M +1.54%
1988 109M +1.72M +1.6%
1987 108M +1.73M +1.63%
1986 106M +1.78M +1.71%
1985 104M +1.72M +1.68%
1984 103M +1.56M +1.54%
1983 101M +1.55M +1.56%
1982 99.39M +2.06M +2.12%
1981 97.33M +2.1M +2.2%
1980 95.24M +1.79M +1.91%
1979 93.45M +1.73M +1.89%
1978 91.72M +1.7M +1.89%
1977 90.01M +1.62M +1.84%
1976 88.39M +1.73M +2%
1975 86.66M +1.48M +1.74%
1974 85.17M +1.29M +1.54%
1973 83.88M +1.19M +1.44%
1972 82.69M +1.11M +1.36%
1971 81.58M +1.08M +1.35%
1970 80.5M +1.07M +1.34%
1969 79.43M +1.03M +1.32%
1968 78.4M +1M +1.3%
1967 77.4M +940,416 +1.23%
1966 76.46M +1.08M +1.43%
1965 75.38M +1.04M +1.4%
1964 74.34M +974,984 +1.33%
1963 73.36M +935,230 +1.29%
1962 72.43M +897,667 +1.25%
1961 71.53M +896,346 +1.27%
1960 70.63M

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.