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Data for 2025

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025

2025, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

The share of a country's people living in cities, measured the same way everywhere: a city is a dense, continuous cluster of at least 50,000 people, found on population grids built from census and satellite data rather than on administrative maps. It is the UN's comparable answer to how urban a country is, which national definitions cannot give.

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025 covers 222 countries on 3 measures. 3 countries share the highest reading, 100.000; 36 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 36.651. Against 2024, 182 values changed (136 up, 46 down), the same countries are covered.

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Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation) · Data for 2025

Highest3 countries share it

100.000

Lowest36 countries share it

0.000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 222 countries · select a heading to sort

Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe100.0000.0000.000
MonacoMCOWestern Europe100.0000.0000.000
Vatican CityVATSouthern Europe100.0000.0000.000
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia99.5200.3600.120
MacauMACEastern Asia99.1770.7020.121
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia96.3713.1840.446
BahrainBHRWestern Asia93.6434.3581.999
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia89.0237.4643.513
Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa84.9536.9368.111
Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa83.4816.6149.906
QatarQATWestern Asia80.69612.7406.564
DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa79.9679.41110.622
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia78.14316.4765.381
South KoreaKOREastern Asia75.98714.4349.580
United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia74.84816.4408.712
PalestinePSEWestern Asia73.67521.1655.160
JordanJORWestern Asia73.31220.4266.262
IsraelISRWestern Asia70.22323.6166.160
EgyptEGYNorthern Africa70.19527.2652.540
JapanJPNEastern Asia68.49122.8888.621
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe68.47627.0324.492
IraqIRQWestern Asia67.54620.12212.333
Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia66.97117.61515.414
ChileCHLSouth America65.34316.92217.735
SomaliaSOMEastern Africa65.30617.33517.359

02In 2025

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Gibraltarshared100.000
  2. Monacoshared100.000
  3. Vatican Cityshared100.000
  4. Singapore99.520
  5. Macau99.177

Lowest

  1. Samoashared0.000
  2. United States Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  3. British Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  4. Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesshared0.000
  5. Tuvalushared0.000

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 36.651. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Population in towns and semi-dense areas (%)

    HighestBermuda98.504

    Lowest7 share it

    Middle country: 30.834

  • Population in rural areas (%)

    Highest4 share it

    Lowest3 share it

    Middle country: 24.967

032024 → 2025

Since 2024

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 182values changed, of 222 in both
  • 136 · 46rose · fell
  • 40unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

Using the series

  • One year of the 2025 release

    Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2025.

  • 185 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 36 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 222 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (2025). Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation), 2025 [data set], describing 2025. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/population-in-cities/2025

0676 held

Other years