Burkina Faso vs Mali: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Burkina Faso
10.87 million people
in 2020
Mali
11.49 million people
in 2020
Burkina Faso rank
33rd
Mali rank
31st
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Burkina Faso
- Mali
How they compare
Mali currently reports 11.49 million people against 10.87 million people in Burkina Faso, a difference of 622,100 people.
That makes Mali's figure about 1.1 times Burkina Faso's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Mali has been ahead every year.
Burkina Faso ranks 33rd and Mali ranks 31st of 236 countries.
Mali has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Burkina Faso | Mali | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.26 million people | 3.45 million people | 191,400 people | Mali |
| 1960s | 3.68 million people | 3.93 million people | 246,175 people | Mali |
| 1970s | 4.26 million people | 4.51 million people | 251,645 people | Mali |
| 1980s | 5.02 million people | 5.43 million people | 408,005 people | Mali |
| 1990s | 5.94 million people | 6.43 million people | 496,160 people | Mali |
| 2000s | 6.94 million people | 7.69 million people | 750,545 people | Mali |
| 2010s | 8.84 million people | 9.70 million people | 862,845 people | Mali |
| 2020s | 10.87 million people | 11.49 million people | 622,100 people | Mali |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Burkina Faso or Mali?
- Mali, at 11.49 million people against 10.87 million people in Burkina Faso as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Burkina Faso and Mali?
- 622,100 people, with Mali ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Burkina Faso and Mali?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Burkina Faso and Mali rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Burkina Faso ranks 33rd and Mali ranks 31st of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.