Rural population — all countries

Rural population — Western Asia

Rural population in Western Asia in 2025 — 75,186,398 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 73%.

2025 75.19M people +1.95% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 77.27M people2009
Period minimum 43.47M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — Western Asia, 1960–202540M50M60M70M80M19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 43,465,877 people1962: 45,062,480 people1964: 46,710,426 people1966: 48,281,428 people1968: 49,645,448 people1970: 50,842,343 people1972: 52,027,754 people1974: 53,069,188 people1976: 54,020,723 people1978: 55,200,708 people1980: 56,334,294 people1982: 57,351,595 people1984: 58,528,498 people1986: 59,753,616 people1988: 61,074,066 people1990: 63,286,583 people1992: 65,141,015 people1994: 67,395,808 people1996: 69,279,824 people1998: 70,915,977 people2000: 72,328,440 people2002: 73,572,936 people2004: 74,667,090 people2006: 75,855,498 people2008: 76,883,849 people2010: 77,233,424 people2012: 74,670,654 people2014: 66,788,243 people2016: 65,275,832 people2018: 66,903,737 people2020: 68,299,341 people2022: 70,687,480 people2024: 73,745,359 people2025: 75,186,398 people
Change over the period: +31.72M (+72.98%) Average annual rate: 0.85 %

Comparison, 2025

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

Western Asia 75.19M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — Western Asia, by year Western Asia All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 75.19M +1.44M +1.95%
2024 73.75M +1.36M +1.88%
2023 72.39M +1.7M +2.4%
2022 70.69M +1.67M +2.42%
2021 69.02M +720,716 +1.06%
2020 68.3M +910,058 +1.35%
2019 67.39M +485,546 +0.73%
2018 66.9M +663,655 +1%
2017 66.24M +964,250 +1.48%
2016 65.28M +400,823 +0.62%
2015 64.88M −1.91M −2.86%
2014 66.79M −3.68M −5.22%
2013 70.47M −4.2M −5.63%
2012 74.67M −2.21M −2.88%
2011 76.88M −349,412 −0.45%
2010 77.23M −39,740 −0.05%
2009 77.27M +389,315 +0.51%
2008 76.88M +600,318 +0.79%
2007 76.28M +428,033 +0.56%
2006 75.86M +608,046 +0.81%
2005 75.25M +580,362 +0.78%
2004 74.67M +536,075 +0.72%
2003 74.13M +558,079 +0.76%
2002 73.57M +620,584 +0.85%
2001 72.95M +623,912 +0.86%
2000 72.33M +674,530 +0.94%
1999 71.65M +737,933 +1.04%
1998 70.92M +794,331 +1.13%
1997 70.12M +841,822 +1.22%
1996 69.28M +908,289 +1.33%
1995 68.37M +975,727 +1.45%
1994 67.4M +1.13M +1.7%
1993 66.27M +1.13M +1.73%
1992 65.14M +985,322 +1.54%
1991 64.16M +869,110 +1.37%
1990 63.29M +1.48M +2.39%
1989 61.81M +737,079 +1.21%
1988 61.07M +655,870 +1.09%
1987 60.42M +664,580 +1.11%
1986 59.75M +630,048 +1.07%
1985 59.12M +595,070 +1.02%
1984 58.53M +600,225 +1.04%
1983 57.93M +576,678 +1.01%
1982 57.35M +506,074 +0.89%
1981 56.85M +511,227 +0.91%
1980 56.33M +538,611 +0.97%
1979 55.8M +594,975 +1.08%
1978 55.2M +597,064 +1.09%
1977 54.6M +582,921 +1.08%
1976 54.02M +495,422 +0.93%
1975 53.53M +456,113 +0.86%
1974 53.07M +500,426 +0.95%
1973 52.57M +541,008 +1.04%
1972 52.03M +582,463 +1.13%
1971 51.45M +602,948 +1.19%
1970 50.84M +580,769 +1.16%
1969 50.26M +616,126 +1.24%
1968 49.65M +649,183 +1.32%
1967 49M +714,837 +1.48%
1966 48.28M +778,859 +1.64%
1965 47.5M +792,143 +1.7%
1964 46.71M +828,531 +1.81%
1963 45.88M +819,415 +1.82%
1962 45.06M +825,189 +1.87%
1961 44.24M +771,414 +1.77%
1960 43.47M

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.