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Health & Population

Urban population growth (annual %)

Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.

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

In , Burundi led Urban population growth (annual %) at 7.86.

The world median across 217 reporting countries was 1.29.

What this measures: Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.

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
1.29
Mean
1.60
25th percentile
0.42
75th percentile
2.66
Range
-5.17 – 7.86

World at a Glance — 2024

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

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: -2.13ASAustralia: 2.13AUBrunei Darussalam: 0.92BNCambodia: 1.82KHChina: 0.43CNFiji: 1.30FJFrench Polynesia: 0.28PFGuam: 0.80GUHong Kong SAR, China: -0.16HKIndonesia: 1.90IDJapan: -0.32JPKiribati: 3.00KIKorea, Dem. People's Rep.: 0.81KPKorea, Rep.: 0.08KRLao PDR: 3.27LAMacao SAR, China: 1.20MOMalaysia: 1.84MYMarshall Islands: -2.87MHMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 0.57FMMongolia: 1.97MNMyanmar: 0.90MMNauru: 0.60NRNew Caledonia: 1.25NCNew Zealand: 1.72NZNorthern Mariana Islands: -1.83MPPalau: -0.11PWPapua New Guinea: 4.07PGPhilippines: 1.42PHSamoa: 0.63WSSingapore: 1.99SGSolomon Islands: 4.52SBThailand: 1.47THTimor-Leste: 1.41TLTonga: -0.39TOTuvalu: -0.64TVVanuatu: 2.37VUViet Nam: 1.57VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: -0.97ALAndorra: 1.40ADArmenia: 2.48AMAustria: 0.85ATAzerbaijan: 0.59AZBelarus: -0.07BYBelgium: 0.74BEBosnia and Herzegovina: 0.42BABulgaria: 0.21BGChannel Islands: 0.11JGCroatia: 0.64HRCyprus: 1.00CYCzechia: 0.46CZDenmark: 0.67DKEstonia: 0.18EEFaroe Islands: 1.04FOFinland: 0.99FIFrance: 0.29FRGeorgia: 0.11GEGermany: 0.42DEGibraltar: 2.21GIGreece: 0.26GRGreenland: 0.24GLHungary: -0.03HUIceland: 0.25ISIreland: 1.93IEIsle of Man: -0.04IMItaly: 0.04ITKazakhstan: 1.79KZKosovo: -2.96XKKyrgyz Republic: 1.75KGLatvia: -0.75LVLiechtenstein: 1.36LILithuania: 0.95LTLuxembourg: 1.62LUMoldova: -1.09MDMonaco: -0.84MCMontenegro: 0.10MENetherlands: 0.98NLNorth Macedonia: 0.31MKNorway: 1.26NOPoland: -0.21PLPortugal: 1.30PTRomania: -0.04RORussian Federation: -0.03RUSan Marino: 0.37SMSerbia: -0.17RSSlovak Republic: -0.08SKSlovenia: 0.72SISpain: 1.25ESSweden: 0.57SESwitzerland: 1.63CHTajikistan: 1.88TJTurkiye: 0.59TRTurkmenistan: 1.79TMUkraine: 0.42UAUnited Kingdom: 1.17GBUzbekistan: 1.97UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 0.25AGArgentina: 0.43ARAruba: 0.52AWBahamas, The: 0.46BSBarbados: 0.24BBBelize: 0.98BZBolivia: 1.82BOBrazil: 0.72BRBritish Virgin Islands: 2.78VGCayman Islands: 1.92KYChile: 0.74CLColombia: 1.39COCosta Rica: 1.02CRCuba: -0.31CUCuracao: 0.87CWDominica: 0.13DMDominican Republic: 0.92DOEcuador: 1.03ECEl Salvador: 1.07SVGrenada: 0.38GDGuatemala: 2.16GTGuyana: 0.62GYHaiti: 2.23HTHonduras: 2.49HNJamaica: 0.79JMMexico: 1.21MXNicaragua: 1.58NIPanama: 1.47PAParaguay: 1.98PYPeru: 1.58PEPuerto Rico (US): 0.07PRSint Maarten (Dutch part): 1.40SXSt. Kitts and Nevis: 0.48KNSt. Lucia: 0.25LCSt. Martin (French part): -5.17MFSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: -0.42VCSuriname: 0.89SRTrinidad and Tobago: 0.07TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 0.98TCUruguay: 0.01UYVenezuela, RB: 0.41VEVirgin Islands (U.S.): -0.46VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 3.73AFAlgeria: 2.13DZBahrain: 0.73BHDjibouti: 1.45DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 1.95EGIran, Islamic Rep.: 1.50IRIraq: 2.15IQIsrael: 1.29ILJordan: 1.28JOKuwait: 0.90KWLebanon: 0.84LBLibya: 1.05LYMalta: 2.90MTMorocco: 1.17MAOman: 4.34OMPakistan: 2.42PKQatar: 7.36QASaudi Arabia: 4.82SASyrian Arab Republic: 4.34SYTunisia: 1.10TNUnited Arab Emirates: 4.86AEWest Bank and Gaza: 2.66PSYemen, Rep.: 3.63YENorth AmericaBermuda: -0.10BMCanada: 3.17CAUnited States: 1.04USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 2.82BDBhutan: 2.62BTIndia: 1.77INMaldives: 1.51MVNepal: 0.20NPSri Lanka: 0.21LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 4.19AOBenin: 4.00BJBotswana: 2.29BWBurkina Faso: 4.20BFBurundi: 7.86BICabo Verde: 1.62CVCameroon: 3.11CMCentral African Republic: 4.37CFChad: 7.21TDComoros: 3.06KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 4.07CDCongo, Rep.: 2.75CGCote d'Ivoire: 3.49CIEquatorial Guinea: 2.73GQEritrea: 1.40EREswatini: 2.69SZEthiopia: 5.00ETGabon: 2.40GAGambia, The: 3.05GMGhana: 2.84GHGuinea: 3.52GNGuinea-Bissau: 3.34GWKenya: 2.78KELesotho: 3.43LSLiberia: 3.14LRMadagascar: 3.85MGMalawi: 4.29MWMali: 4.87MLMauritania: 4.37MRMauritius: -0.20MUMozambique: 4.91MZNamibia: 3.14NANiger: 4.95NENigeria: 3.36NGRwanda: 5.65RWSao Tome and Principe: 2.39STSenegal: 3.30SNSeychelles: 1.74SCSierra Leone: 3.35SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 4.49SOSouth Africa: 1.42ZASouth Sudan: 5.36SSSudan: 1.01SDTanzania: 4.81TZTogo: 3.54TGUganda: 4.93UGZambia: 3.79ZMZimbabwe: 3.30ZW

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

Highest Values — 2024

# Country Urban population growth (annual %)
1 Burundi Sub-Saharan Africa 7.86
2 Qatar Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 7.36
3 Chad Sub-Saharan Africa 7.21
4 Rwanda Sub-Saharan Africa 5.65
5 South Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa 5.36
6 Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa 5.00
7 Niger Sub-Saharan Africa 4.95
8 Uganda Sub-Saharan Africa 4.93
9 Mozambique Sub-Saharan Africa 4.91
10 Mali Sub-Saharan Africa 4.87

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for Urban 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 86 0.85
Upper middle income 54 0.79
Lower middle income 50 2.47
Low income 25 4.09
Not classified 2 2.70

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 37 1.02
Europe & Central Asia 58 0.59
Latin America & Caribbean 42 0.76
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 23 2.55
North America 3 1.37
South Asia 6 1.52
Sub-Saharan Africa 48 3.57

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country Urban population growth (annual %)
1 St. Martin (French part) -5.17
2 Kosovo -2.96
3 Marshall Islands -2.87
4 American Samoa -2.13
5 Northern Mariana Islands -1.83
6 Moldova -1.09
7 Albania -0.97
8 Monaco -0.84
9 Latvia -0.75
10 Tuvalu -0.64
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Source: World Bank Open Data (SP.URB.GROW), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.