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Health & Population

Urban population

Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

World Bank code: SP.URB.TOTL • Data available for 217 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , China led Urban population at 928.44M.

The world median across 217 reporting countries was 4.17M.

What this measures: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

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
217 countries
Median
4.17M
Mean
21.51M
25th percentile
417,228.00
75th percentile
14.94M
Range
5,929.00 – 928.44M

World at a Glance — 2024

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

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: 37,854.00ASAustralia: 23.82MAUBrunei Darussalam: 346,570.00BNCambodia: 7.21MKHChina: 928.44MCNFiji: 548,695.00FJFrench Polynesia: 173,929.00PFGuam: 158,000.00GUHong Kong SAR, China: 7.52MHKIndonesia: 166.55MIDJapan: 114.29MJPKiribati: 84,023.00KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: 16.92MKPKorea, Rep.: 42.01MKRLao PDR: 3.07MLAMacao SAR, China: 687,000.00MOMalaysia: 27.35MMYMarshall Islands: 29,563.00MHMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 25,412.00FMMongolia: 2.50MMNMyanmar: 16.60MMMNauru: 11,947.00NRNew Caledonia: 198,853.00NCNew Zealand: 4.44MNZNorthern Mariana Islands: 40,769.00MPPalau: 14,016.00PWPapua New Guinea: 1.63MPGPhilippines: 64.24MPHSamoa: 38,160.00WSSingapore: 6.04MSGSolomon Islands: 251,180.00SBThailand: 44.34MTHTimor-Leste: 401,480.00TLTonga: 22,034.00TOTuvalu: 6,243.00TVVanuatu: 73,051.00VUViet Nam: 38.87MVNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: 1.39MALAndorra: 72,831.00ADArmenia: 2.00MAMAustria: 6.38MATAzerbaijan: 5.98MAZBelarus: 7.23MBYBelgium: 10.39MBEBosnia and Herzegovina: 1.65MBABulgaria: 4.76MBGChannel Islands: 54,987.00JGCroatia: 2.22MHRCyprus: 905,735.00CYCzechia: 7.94MCZDenmark: 5.30MDKEstonia: 970,219.00EEFaroe Islands: 21,552.00FOFinland: 4.17MFIFrance: 54.02MFRGeorgia: 2.26MGEGermany: 68.50MDEGibraltar: 39,329.00GIGreece: 8.22MGRGreenland: 50,197.00GLHungary: 6.74MHUIceland: 364,019.00ISIreland: 3.47MIEIsle of Man: 43,901.00IMItaly: 41.03MITKazakhstan: 12.78MKZKosovo: 802,301.00XKKyrgyz Republic: 2.51MKGLatvia: 1.28MLVLiechtenstein: 5,929.00LILithuania: 1.99MLTLuxembourg: 642,104.00LUMoldova: 1.05MMDMonaco: 38,631.00MCMontenegro: 408,672.00MENetherlands: 17.21MNLNorth Macedonia: 1.14MMKNorway: 4.64MNOPoland: 21.92MPLPortugal: 6.56MPTRomania: 9.94MRORussian Federation: 107.81MRUSan Marino: 33,011.00SMSerbia: 4.11MRSSlovak Republic: 2.88MSKSlovenia: 1.19MSISpain: 39.23MESSweden: 9.39MSESwitzerland: 7.70MCHTajikistan: 2.77MTJTurkiye: 76.41MTRTurkmenistan: 3.53MTMUkraine: 26.32MUAUnited Kingdom: 57.63MGBUzbekistan: 18.54MUZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 22,872.00AGArgentina: 42.17MARAruba: 66,731.00AWBahamas, The: 326,343.00BSBarbados: 168,180.00BBBelize: 174,141.00BZBolivia: 8.84MBOBrazil: 186.34MBRBritish Virgin Islands: 22,304.00VGCayman Islands: 74,457.00KYChile: 17.59MCLColombia: 41.53MCOCosta Rica: 4.07MCRCuba: 8.47MCUCuracao: 142,604.00CWDominica: 48,690.00DMDominican Republic: 8.27MDOEcuador: 11.47MECEl Salvador: 4.76MSVGrenada: 42,854.00GDGuatemala: 10.30MGTGuyana: 220,053.00GYHaiti: 6.48MHTHonduras: 6.36MHNJamaica: 1.67MJMMexico: 104.37MMXNicaragua: 4.10MNIPanama: 2.98MPAParaguay: 4.84MPYPeru: 29.15MPEPuerto Rico (US): 3.02MPRSint Maarten (Dutch part): 43,350.00SXSt. Kitts and Nevis: 14,894.00KNSt. Lucia: 52,301.00LCSt. Martin (French part): 26,129.00MFSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 48,143.00VCSuriname: 417,228.00SRTrinidad and Tobago: 738,367.00TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 43,821.00TCUruguay: 3.24MUYVenezuela, RB: 25.36MVEVirgin Islands (U.S.): 99,504.00VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 10.96MAFAlgeria: 35.24MDZBahrain: 1.59MBHDjibouti: 852,060.00DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 49.88MEGIran, Islamic Rep.: 70.53MIRIraq: 32.18MIQIsrael: 9.13MILJordan: 10.74MJOKuwait: 4.90MKWLebanon: 5.27MLBLibya: 6.49MLYMalta: 544,128.00MTMorocco: 23.91MMAOman: 4.20MOMPakistan: 98.43MPKQatar: 2.84MQASaudi Arabia: 29.81MSASyrian Arab Republic: 17.78MSYTunisia: 8.64MTNUnited Arab Emirates: 9.43MAEWest Bank and Gaza: 4.61MPSYemen, Rep.: 14.94MYENorth AmericaBermuda: 64,636.00BMCanada: 34.15MCAUnited States: 272.51MUSSouth AsiaBangladesh: 56.72MBDBhutan: 336,908.00BTIndia: 513.33MINMaldives: 221,666.00MVNepal: 19.80MNPSri Lanka: 4.45MLKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 26.77MAOBenin: 7.60MBJBotswana: 1.70MBWBurkina Faso: 6.67MBFBurundi: 3.49MBICabo Verde: 402,959.00CVCameroon: 16.14MCMCentral African Republic: 2.35MCFChad: 5.47MTDComoros: 290,660.00KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 48.90MCDCongo, Rep.: 4.05MCGCote d'Ivoire: 17.24MCIEquatorial Guinea: 1.35MGQEritrea: 1.22MEREswatini: 326,239.00SZEthiopia: 31.20METGabon: 2.33MGAGambia, The: 1.77MGMGhana: 20.09MGHGuinea: 5.62MGNGuinea-Bissau: 1.02MGWKenya: 18.00MKELesotho: 1.02MLSLiberia: 3.12MLRMadagascar: 10.37MMGMalawi: 3.74MMWMali: 7.74MMLMauritania: 3.13MMRMauritius: 486,056.00MUMozambique: 12.62MMZNamibia: 1.53MNANiger: 4.88MNENigeria: 146.53MNGRwanda: 4.26MRWSao Tome and Principe: 162,216.00STSenegal: 10.22MSNSeychelles: 54,961.00SCSierra Leone: 3.92MSLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 10.38MSOSouth Africa: 40.77MZASouth Sudan: 2.55MSSSudan: 17.59MSDTanzania: 24.80MTZTogo: 4.17MTGUganda: 15.64MUGZambia: 9.69MZMZimbabwe: 6.64MZW

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

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Urban population
1 China East Asia & Pacific 928.440M
2 India South Asia 513.325M
3 United States North America 272.513M
4 Brazil Latin America & Caribbean 186.338M
5 Indonesia East Asia & Pacific 166.552M
6 Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa 146.531M
7 Japan East Asia & Pacific 114.293M
8 Russian Federation Europe & Central Asia 107.811M
9 Mexico Latin America & Caribbean 104.367M
10 Pakistan Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 98.431M

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Urban population.

View complete rankings →

Biggest Movers — Year over Year

Largest increases

By Income Group — Average

Income group Countries Mean
High income 86 13.00M
Upper middle income 54 36.35M
Lower middle income 50 25.98M
Low income 25 9.30M
Not classified 2 28.28M

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 37 41.05M
Europe & Central Asia 58 11.84M
Latin America & Caribbean 42 12.81M
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 23 19.69M
North America 3 102.24M
South Asia 6 99.14M
Sub-Saharan Africa 48 11.87M

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Urban population
1 Liechtenstein 5,929.00
2 Tuvalu 6,243.00
3 Nauru 11,947.00
4 Palau 14,016.00
5 St. Kitts and Nevis 14,894.00
6 Faroe Islands 21,552.00
7 Tonga 22,034.00
8 British Virgin Islands 22,304.00
9 Antigua and Barbuda 22,872.00
10 Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 25,412.00
Download full dataset: CSV JSON

Source: World Bank Open Data (SP.URB.TOTL), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.