Rural population — all countries

Rural population — Upper-middle-income countries

Rural population in upper-middle-income countries in 2025 — 814,755,341 people. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 0.3%.

2025 815M people −1.13% vs 2024
World rank
Period maximum 1.25B people1995
Period minimum 812M people1960

Trend over time

1960–2025 · people

Rural population — Upper-middle-income countries, 1960–2025800M1B1.2B1.4B19601967197419811988199520022009201620231960: 812,046,819 people1962: 837,056,177 people1964: 867,391,147 people1966: 910,313,773 people1968: 953,875,435 people1970: 1,001,123,913 people1972: 1,047,824,470 people1974: 1,086,580,423 people1976: 1,116,015,629 people1978: 1,138,974,753 people1980: 1,151,826,546 people1982: 1,169,022,274 people1984: 1,172,665,186 people1986: 1,185,573,198 people1988: 1,202,299,935 people1990: 1,226,905,077 people1992: 1,236,524,525 people1994: 1,244,527,917 people1996: 1,238,100,074 people1998: 1,216,576,402 people2000: 1,187,990,320 people2002: 1,162,414,015 people2004: 1,134,499,975 people2006: 1,106,716,984 people2008: 1,076,492,826 people2010: 1,051,534,892 people2012: 1,005,330,547 people2014: 970,588,331 people2016: 930,517,566 people2018: 894,459,507 people2020: 866,078,709 people2022: 838,755,943 people2024: 824,029,258 people2025: 814,755,341 people
Change over the period: +2.71M (+0.33%) Average annual rate: 0.01 %

Comparison, 2025

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Upper-middle-income countries

Upper-middle-income countries 815M people
World 3.46B people
Rural population — Upper-middle-income countries, by year Upper-middle-income countries All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2025 815M −9.27M −1.13%
2024 824M −7.89M −0.95%
2023 832M −6.84M −0.82%
2022 839M −8.82M −1.04%
2021 848M −18.5M −2.14%
2020 866M −11.64M −1.33%
2019 878M −16.74M −1.87%
2018 894M −18.95M −2.07%
2017 913M −17.11M −1.84%
2016 931M −18.84M −1.98%
2015 949M −21.23M −2.19%
2014 971M −17.04M −1.73%
2013 988M −17.7M −1.76%
2012 1.01B −14.19M −1.39%
2011 1.02B −32.01M −3.04%
2010 1.05B −9.54M −0.9%
2009 1.06B −15.42M −1.43%
2008 1.08B −12M −1.1%
2007 1.09B −18.22M −1.65%
2006 1.11B −14.93M −1.33%
2005 1.12B −12.86M −1.13%
2004 1.13B −12.82M −1.12%
2003 1.15B −15.09M −1.3%
2002 1.16B −14.36M −1.22%
2001 1.18B −11.21M −0.94%
2000 1.19B −15.99M −1.33%
1999 1.2B −12.59M −1.04%
1998 1.22B −11.45M −0.93%
1997 1.23B −10.08M −0.81%
1996 1.24B −9.09M −0.73%
1995 1.25B +2.66M +0.21%
1994 1.24B +3.75M +0.3%
1993 1.24B +4.25M +0.34%
1992 1.24B +5.33M +0.43%
1991 1.23B +4.29M +0.35%
1990 1.23B +14.33M +1.18%
1989 1.21B +10.27M +0.85%
1988 1.2B +9.88M +0.83%
1987 1.19B +6.85M +0.58%
1986 1.19B +6.06M +0.51%
1985 1.18B +6.85M +0.58%
1984 1.17B −558,150 −0.05%
1983 1.17B +4.2M +0.36%
1982 1.17B +11.06M +0.96%
1981 1.16B +6.13M +0.53%
1980 1.15B +9.19M +0.8%
1979 1.14B +3.66M +0.32%
1978 1.14B +10.21M +0.9%
1977 1.13B +12.75M +1.14%
1976 1.12B +14.34M +1.3%
1975 1.1B +15.09M +1.39%
1974 1.09B +19.06M +1.79%
1973 1.07B +19.7M +1.88%
1972 1.05B +22.5M +2.19%
1971 1.03B +24.2M +2.42%
1970 1B +23.87M +2.44%
1969 977M +23.38M +2.45%
1968 954M +22.12M +2.37%
1967 932M +21.45M +2.36%
1966 910M +22.18M +2.5%
1965 888M +20.75M +2.39%
1964 867M +8.17M +0.95%
1963 859M +22.16M +2.65%
1962 837M +22.56M +2.77%
1961 814M +2.45M +0.3%
1960 812M

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.