Italy vs South Africa: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Italy
13.93 million people
in 2020
South Africa
12.95 million people
in 2020
Italy rank
22nd
South Africa rank
25th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Italy
- South Africa
How they compare
Italy currently reports 13.93 million people against 12.95 million people in South Africa, a difference of 981,800 people.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times South Africa's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Italy has been ahead every year.
Italy ranks 22nd and South Africa ranks 25th of 236 countries.
Italy has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 13.79 million people | 6.95 million people | 6.83 million people | Italy |
| 1960s | 14.08 million people | 8.12 million people | 5.97 million people | Italy |
| 1970s | 14.41 million people | 9.50 million people | 4.91 million people | Italy |
| 1980s | 14.55 million people | 11.18 million people | 3.37 million people | Italy |
| 1990s | 14.53 million people | 12.74 million people | 1.78 million people | Italy |
| 2000s | 14.41 million people | 12.76 million people | 1.65 million people | Italy |
| 2010s | 14.25 million people | 12.84 million people | 1.41 million people | Italy |
| 2020s | 13.93 million people | 12.95 million people | 981,800 people | Italy |
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 South Africa?
- Italy, at 13.93 million people against 12.95 million people in South Africa as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Italy and South Africa?
- 981,800 people, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and South Africa?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Italy and South Africa rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Italy ranks 22nd and South Africa ranks 25th 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.