Countries by Urban population (% of total population)
Twelve countries and territories register 100% urban population in 2024, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong SAR, China. At the other end of the ranking, Liechtenstein ranks 216th with just 14.66%, and Papua New Guinea ranks 215th at 15.41%. The 85-percentage-point gap between the top and bottom reflects the wide variation in how populations are distributed across urban and rural areas worldwide.
Ranking 2024
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures the share of a country's total population living in urban areas, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices; the data are collected and smoothed by the United Nations Population Division. A higher percentage indicates a greater share of the population classified as urban by that country's own definitions. The ranking covers 216 countries and territories, all with data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The data year is 2024, values range from 14.66% to 100%, and no extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.
The top of the ranking is dominated by city-states, island territories, and small high-income countries. Twelve jurisdictions reach 100%, including Bahrain (rank 1), Kuwait (rank 1), Singapore (rank 1), Monaco (rank 1), and Nauru (rank 1). Qatar follows at rank 13 with 99.32%, and San Marino ranks 14th at 97.16%. Among larger nations, Japan ranks 26th at 92.19%, Argentina ranks 25th at 92.27%, and the United Kingdom ranks 50th at 83.24%. These high values reflect combinations of geographic compactness, high income levels, and long-established urban settlement patterns as captured in national definitions.
The middle of the ranking shows considerable diversity. China ranks 102nd at 65.89%, Ireland ranks 107th at 64.35%, and South Africa ranks 111th at 63.69%. India ranks 182nd at 35.38%, placing it well below the global midpoint despite its large absolute urban population. A notable anomaly appears with Liechtenstein at rank 216 and just 14.66%, making it the least urbanized country in the dataset despite being a high-income European nation. Nepal ranks 99th at 66.77%, placing it above Cyprus (rank 100, 66.68%) and Ireland (rank 107, 64.35%), which may appear counterintuitive given income-level differences. Gambia ranks 108th at 64.30%, higher than many European nations including Portugal (rank 122, 61.33%) and Poland (rank 125, 59.97%).
A key limitation of this metric is that urban classification is defined by each country's own national statistical office, meaning the threshold for what constitutes an 'urban' area varies substantially across countries. A settlement classified as urban in one country may fall below the threshold in another. This makes direct cross-country comparisons less reliable than the numerical precision of the values suggests. Additionally, the smoothing applied by the United Nations Population Division means that annual figures may not reflect sudden demographic shifts. Territories and dependent jurisdictions are included alongside sovereign states, which can affect interpretation of top and bottom ranks. The metric captures population distribution but says nothing about the quality, density, or infrastructure of urban areas.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices; the data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division. Values are expressed as a percentage of total population, where higher values indicate a greater urban share. The ranking covers 216 countries and territories. Coverage is 100%, with all 216 entries sourced from data within the last seven years and 100% classified as official quality. No extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 0.7%, indicating high stability. Values range from 14.66% (Liechtenstein) to 100% (12 jurisdictions), a spread of 582.2%. Because urban definitions vary by country, cross-national comparisons should be interpreted with caution.