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Health & Population

Rural population growth (annual %)

Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.

World Bank code: SP.RUR.TOTL.ZG • Data available for 206 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , Oman led Rural population growth (annual %) at 5.11.

The world median across 205 reporting countries was 0.32.

What this measures: Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.

How "Health & Population" indicators are measured

Health and population indicators come from national vital-registration systems, demographic and health surveys, and modeling by the UN Population Division and WHO. Mortality and morbidity estimates are often modeled rather than directly observed in lower-capacity statistical systems, which means some figures are interpolations between survey years. Life expectancy is a "period" measure based on current age-specific mortality, not a forecast of how long someone born today will actually live.

Distribution — 2024

Reporting
205 countries
Median
0.32
Mean
0.20
25th percentile
-0.58
75th percentile
1.11
Range
-7.80 – 5.11

World at a Glance — 2024

Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: 0.66ASAustralia: 1.07AUBrunei Darussalam: 0.51BNCambodia: 0.81KHChina: -1.19CNFiji: -0.64FJFrench Polynesia: 0.19PFGuam: 0.11GUIndonesia: -0.71IDJapan: -1.80JPKiribati: -0.98KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: -0.58KPKorea, Rep.: 0.05KRLao PDR: 0.13LAMalaysia: -0.81MYMarshall Islands: -5.09MHMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 0.44FMMongolia: -0.50MNMyanmar: 0.58MMNew Caledonia: 0.33NCNew Zealand: 1.38NZNorthern Mariana Islands: -3.20MPPalau: -0.46PWPapua New Guinea: 1.37PGPhilippines: 0.09PHSamoa: 0.62WSSolomon Islands: 1.43SBThailand: -2.47THTimor-Leste: 1.08TLTonga: -0.41TOTuvalu: -3.75TVVanuatu: 2.25VUViet Nam: 0.05VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: -2.35ALAndorra: 0.74ADArmenia: 1.97AMAustria: -0.28ATAzerbaijan: 0.32AZBelarus: -2.12BYBelgium: 0.17BEBosnia and Herzegovina: -1.81BABulgaria: -0.91BGChannel Islands: 0.33JGCroatia: -0.47HRCyprus: 0.96CYCzechia: 0.16CZDenmark: -0.76DKEstonia: 0.08EEFaroe Islands: 0.13FOFinland: -0.35FIFrance: 0.17FRGeorgia: -1.27GEGermany: -0.38DEGreece: -1.07GRGreenland: -2.22GLHungary: -0.99HUIceland: -0.30ISIreland: 0.93IEIsle of Man: 0.03IMItaly: -0.27ITKazakhstan: 0.45KZKosovo: -7.80XKKyrgyz Republic: 1.68KGLatvia: -1.33LVLiechtenstein: 1.53LILithuania: -0.23LTLuxembourg: 0.76LUMoldova: -3.19MDMontenegro: -0.20MENetherlands: -6.38NLNorth Macedonia: -1.02MKNorway: -0.58NOPoland: -0.56PLPortugal: 0.78PTRomania: -0.05RORussian Federation: -0.73RUSan Marino: -0.52SMSerbia: -1.19RSSlovak Republic: -0.09SKSlovenia: -0.17SISpain: 0.08ESSweden: -1.68SESwitzerland: -0.58CHTajikistan: 1.93TJTurkiye: -2.76TRTurkmenistan: 1.71TMUkraine: 0.15UAUnited Kingdom: 0.57GBUzbekistan: 1.97UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 0.57AGArgentina: -0.68ARAruba: 0.71AWBahamas, The: 0.44BSBarbados: -0.24BBBelize: 1.77BZBolivia: 0.26BOBrazil: -1.88BRBritish Virgin Islands: -0.73VGChile: -1.08CLColombia: -0.06COCosta Rica: -1.58CRCuba: -0.54CUCuracao: 0.56CWDominica: -2.08DMDominican Republic: 0.65DOEcuador: 0.57ECEl Salvador: -1.37SVGrenada: -0.05GDGuatemala: 0.76GTGuyana: 0.55GYHaiti: -0.14HTHonduras: 0.55HNJamaica: -1.18JMMexico: -0.51MXNicaragua: 1.01NIPanama: 0.87PAParaguay: -0.46PYPeru: -1.64PEPuerto Rico (US): -1.34PRSt. Kitts and Nevis: 0.04KNSt. Lucia: 0.26LCSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: -0.95VCSuriname: 0.85SRTrinidad and Tobago: 0.04TTTurks and Caicos Islands: -3.23TCUruguay: -1.27UYVenezuela, RB: 0.03VEVirgin Islands (U.S.): -1.73VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 2.53AFAlgeria: -0.79DZDjibouti: 1.12DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 1.57EGIran, Islamic Rep.: -0.43IRIraq: 2.07IQIsrael: 0.94ILJordan: -2.74JOLebanon: -2.11LBLibya: 0.86LYMalta: 2.25MTMorocco: 0.63MAOman: 5.11OMPakistan: 0.93PKQatar: 1.80QASaudi Arabia: 3.61SASyrian Arab Republic: 4.80SYTunisia: -0.49TNUnited Arab Emirates: 3.64AEWest Bank and Gaza: 0.35PSYemen, Rep.: 2.61YENorth AmericaCanada: 1.95CAUnited States: 0.71USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 0.44BDBhutan: -0.78BTIndia: 0.41INMaldives: -0.50MVNepal: -0.83NPSri Lanka: -0.74LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 0.34AOBenin: 0.79BJBotswana: 0.29BWBurkina Faso: 1.48BFBurundi: 0.90BICabo Verde: -3.17CVCameroon: 2.00CMCentral African Republic: 2.64CFChad: 4.13TDComoros: 1.31KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 2.57CDCongo, Rep.: 1.78CGCote d'Ivoire: 1.21CIEquatorial Guinea: 1.61GQEritrea: 2.11EREswatini: 0.40SZEthiopia: 1.85ETGabon: -0.58GAGambia, The: 0.89GMGhana: 0.54GHGuinea: 1.71GNGuinea-Bissau: 1.24GWKenya: 1.58KELesotho: -0.64LSLiberia: 0.95LRMadagascar: 1.77MGMalawi: 2.22MWMali: 2.06MLMauritania: 0.64MRMauritius: -0.25MUMozambique: 1.80MZNamibia: 1.33NANiger: 2.92NENigeria: -0.06NGRwanda: 0.68RWSao Tome and Principe: 1.15STSenegal: 1.13SNSeychelles: 0.96SCSierra Leone: 1.11SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 2.29SOSouth Africa: 0.95ZASouth Sudan: 3.54SSSudan: 0.70SDTanzania: 1.79TZTogo: 1.24TGUganda: 1.78UGZambia: 2.00ZMZimbabwe: 0.78ZW

Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Rural population growth (annual %)
1 Oman Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 5.11
2 Syrian Arab Republic Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 4.80
3 Chad Sub-Saharan Africa 4.13
4 United Arab Emirates Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 3.64
5 Saudi Arabia Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 3.61
6 South Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa 3.54
7 Niger Sub-Saharan Africa 2.92
8 Central African Republic Sub-Saharan Africa 2.64
9 Yemen, Rep. Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 2.61
10 Congo, Dem. Rep. Sub-Saharan Africa 2.57

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Rural population growth (annual %).

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Biggest Movers — Year over Year

Largest increases

Largest decreases

By Income Group — Average

Income group Countries Mean
High income 74 -0.01
Upper middle income 54 -0.75
Lower middle income 50 0.64
Low income 25 1.94
Not classified 2 0.94

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 33 -0.29
Europe & Central Asia 56 -0.48
Latin America & Caribbean 39 -0.31
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 21 1.35
North America 2 1.33
South Asia 6 -0.33
Sub-Saharan Africa 48 1.26

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Rural population growth (annual %)
1 Kosovo -7.80
2 Netherlands -6.38
3 Marshall Islands -5.09
4 Tuvalu -3.75
5 Turks and Caicos Islands -3.23
6 Northern Mariana Islands -3.20
7 Moldova -3.19
8 Cabo Verde -3.17
9 Turkiye -2.76
10 Jordan -2.74
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Source: World Bank Open Data (SP.RUR.TOTL.ZG), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.