Rural population — all countries

Rural population — Eastern Africa

Rural population in Eastern Africa in 2025 — 349,108,142 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 357.4%.

2025 349M people +1.73% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 349M people2025
Period minimum 76.33M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — Eastern Africa, 1960–20250100M200M300M400M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 76,325,281 people1962: 80,155,672 people1964: 84,271,966 people1966: 88,648,521 people1968: 93,299,059 people1970: 98,148,849 people1972: 102,941,852 people1974: 107,910,566 people1976: 113,249,079 people1978: 118,791,666 people1980: 124,827,467 people1982: 131,670,100 people1984: 138,635,700 people1986: 145,925,060 people1988: 153,524,284 people1990: 161,155,343 people1992: 169,227,285 people1994: 176,935,496 people1996: 185,855,905 people1998: 195,938,945 people2000: 205,877,812 people2002: 215,833,711 people2004: 226,070,484 people2006: 236,407,590 people2008: 247,346,955 people2010: 259,176,156 people2012: 271,146,188 people2014: 282,871,527 people2016: 294,308,095 people2018: 305,770,909 people2020: 318,728,356 people2022: 330,744,699 people2024: 343,187,923 people2025: 349,108,142 people
Change over the period: +273M (+357.4%) Average annual rate: 2.37 %

Comparison, 2025

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

Eastern Africa 349M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — Eastern Africa, by year Eastern Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 349M +5.92M +1.73%
2024 343M +6.05M +1.79%
2023 337M +6.4M +1.93%
2022 331M +5.84M +1.8%
2021 325M +6.18M +1.94%
2020 319M +6.49M +2.08%
2019 312M +6.47M +2.12%
2018 306M +5.83M +1.95%
2017 300M +5.63M +1.91%
2016 294M +5.73M +1.99%
2015 289M +5.71M +2.02%
2014 283M +5.71M +2.06%
2013 277M +6.02M +2.22%
2012 271M +5.98M +2.26%
2011 265M +5.99M +2.31%
2010 259M +6.07M +2.4%
2009 253M +5.76M +2.33%
2008 247M +5.25M +2.17%
2007 242M +5.69M +2.41%
2006 236M +5.21M +2.25%
2005 231M +5.13M +2.27%
2004 226M +5.14M +2.33%
2003 221M +5.1M +2.36%
2002 216M +5M +2.37%
2001 211M +4.96M +2.41%
2000 206M +5.01M +2.49%
1999 201M +4.93M +2.52%
1998 196M +4.89M +2.56%
1997 191M +5.19M +2.79%
1996 186M +5.1M +2.82%
1995 181M +3.82M +2.16%
1994 177M +3.51M +2.02%
1993 173M +4.2M +2.48%
1992 169M +4.06M +2.46%
1991 165M +4.01M +2.49%
1990 161M +3.94M +2.5%
1989 157M +3.7M +2.41%
1988 154M +3.76M +2.51%
1987 150M +3.84M +2.63%
1986 146M +3.69M +2.6%
1985 142M +3.6M +2.6%
1984 139M +3.47M +2.57%
1983 135M +3.49M +2.65%
1982 132M +3.59M +2.8%
1981 128M +3.25M +2.6%
1980 125M +2.94M +2.41%
1979 122M +3.1M +2.61%
1978 119M +2.87M +2.47%
1977 116M +2.67M +2.36%
1976 113M +2.72M +2.46%
1975 111M +2.62M +2.42%
1974 108M +2.56M +2.43%
1973 105M +2.4M +2.34%
1972 103M +2.36M +2.34%
1971 101M +2.44M +2.48%
1970 98.15M +2.43M +2.54%
1969 95.72M +2.42M +2.59%
1968 93.3M +2.38M +2.61%
1967 90.92M +2.27M +2.57%
1966 88.65M +2.2M +2.54%
1965 86.45M +2.18M +2.58%
1964 84.27M +2.11M +2.56%
1963 82.17M +2.01M +2.51%
1962 80.16M +1.96M +2.51%
1961 78.2M +1.87M +2.45%
1960 76.33M

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.