Rural population — all countries

Rural population — Western Africa

Rural population in Western Africa in 2025 — 213,279,004 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 188.1%.

2025 213M people +0.84% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 213M people2025
Period minimum 74.03M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — Western Africa, 1960–20250100M200M300M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 74,033,466 people1962: 76,291,616 people1964: 78,580,246 people1966: 80,916,903 people1968: 83,318,707 people1970: 86,011,496 people1972: 88,885,020 people1974: 92,071,515 people1976: 95,591,472 people1978: 99,399,897 people1980: 103,597,809 people1982: 107,928,458 people1984: 111,925,768 people1986: 116,298,736 people1988: 120,569,601 people1990: 125,012,594 people1992: 129,247,676 people1994: 134,056,520 people1996: 138,943,581 people1998: 143,878,264 people2000: 148,838,290 people2002: 154,104,774 people2004: 159,407,265 people2006: 164,901,392 people2008: 170,720,515 people2010: 176,621,135 people2012: 182,592,070 people2014: 188,417,095 people2016: 194,092,959 people2018: 199,314,892 people2020: 203,829,675 people2022: 207,741,999 people2024: 211,504,164 people2025: 213,279,004 people
Change over the period: +139M (+188.08%) Average annual rate: 1.64 %

Comparison, 2025

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

Western Africa 213M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — Western Africa, by year Western Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 213M +1.77M +0.84%
2024 212M +1.9M +0.91%
2023 210M +1.86M +0.9%
2022 208M +1.9M +0.92%
2021 206M +2.01M +0.99%
2020 204M +2.17M +1.08%
2019 202M +2.35M +1.18%
2018 199M +2.52M +1.28%
2017 197M +2.7M +1.39%
2016 194M +2.8M +1.46%
2015 191M +2.88M +1.53%
2014 188M +2.92M +1.58%
2013 185M +2.9M +1.59%
2012 183M +2.96M +1.65%
2011 180M +3.01M +1.7%
2010 177M +2.96M +1.71%
2009 174M +2.94M +1.72%
2008 171M +2.92M +1.74%
2007 168M +2.9M +1.76%
2006 165M +2.78M +1.71%
2005 162M +2.72M +1.7%
2004 159M +2.65M +1.69%
2003 157M +2.65M +1.72%
2002 154M +2.67M +1.76%
2001 151M +2.6M +1.75%
2000 149M +2.5M +1.71%
1999 146M +2.46M +1.71%
1998 144M +2.5M +1.77%
1997 141M +2.44M +1.75%
1996 139M +2.43M +1.78%
1995 137M +2.46M +1.83%
1994 134M +2.41M +1.83%
1993 132M +2.4M +1.86%
1992 129M +2.33M +1.84%
1991 127M +1.9M +1.52%
1990 125M +2.18M +1.77%
1989 123M +2.26M +1.88%
1988 121M +2.2M +1.86%
1987 118M +2.07M +1.78%
1986 116M +2.21M +1.94%
1985 114M +2.16M +1.93%
1984 112M +1.99M +1.81%
1983 110M +2M +1.86%
1982 108M +2.17M +2.05%
1981 106M +2.16M +2.09%
1980 104M +2.13M +2.1%
1979 101M +2.06M +2.08%
1978 99.4M +1.97M +2.02%
1977 97.43M +1.84M +1.92%
1976 95.59M +1.77M +1.89%
1975 93.82M +1.75M +1.9%
1974 92.07M +1.64M +1.82%
1973 90.43M +1.54M +1.74%
1972 88.89M +1.46M +1.67%
1971 87.42M +1.41M +1.64%
1970 86.01M +1.39M +1.64%
1969 84.62M +1.31M +1.57%
1968 83.32M +1.22M +1.48%
1967 82.1M +1.18M +1.46%
1966 80.92M +1.18M +1.48%
1965 79.74M +1.16M +1.48%
1964 78.58M +1.15M +1.48%
1963 77.43M +1.14M +1.5%
1962 76.29M +1.13M +1.5%
1961 75.16M +1.13M +1.53%
1960 74.03M

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.