Italy vs Poland: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Italy
13.93 million people
in 2020
Poland
15.25 million people
in 2020
Italy rank
22nd
Poland rank
20th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Italy
- Poland
How they compare
Poland currently reports 15.25 million people against 13.93 million people in Italy, a difference of 1.32 million people.
That makes Poland's figure about 1.1 times Italy's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Italy ahead.
Italy ranks 22nd and Poland ranks 20th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Italy averaged higher in 3 and Poland in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | Poland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 13.79 million people | 12.84 million people | 945,450 people | Italy |
| 1960s | 14.08 million people | 13.81 million people | 277,650 people | Italy |
| 1970s | 14.41 million people | 14.38 million people | 34,550 people | Italy |
| 1980s | 14.55 million people | 15.11 million people | 565,400 people | Poland |
| 1990s | 14.53 million people | 15.44 million people | 911,450 people | Poland |
| 2000s | 14.41 million people | 15.31 million people | 900,750 people | Poland |
| 2010s | 14.25 million people | 15.31 million people | 1.06 million people | Poland |
| 2020s | 13.93 million people | 15.25 million people | 1.32 million people | Poland |
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, Italy or Poland?
- Poland, at 15.25 million people against 13.93 million people in Italy as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Italy and Poland?
- 1.32 million people, with Poland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Poland?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Italy and Poland rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Italy ranks 22nd and Poland ranks 20th 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.