Kenya vs Sudan: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Kenya
12.88 million people
in 2020
Sudan
11.80 million people
in 2020
Kenya rank
27th
Sudan rank
29th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Kenya
- Sudan
How they compare
Kenya currently reports 12.88 million people against 11.80 million people in Sudan, a difference of 1.08 million people.
That makes Kenya's figure about 1.1 times Sudan's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Kenya has been ahead every year.
Kenya ranks 27th and Sudan ranks 29th of 236 countries.
Kenya has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Kenya | Sudan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 4.67 million people | 3.59 million people | 1.08 million people | Kenya |
| 1960s | 5.97 million people | 4.32 million people | 1.65 million people | Kenya |
| 1970s | 7.73 million people | 5.18 million people | 2.55 million people | Kenya |
| 1980s | 9.28 million people | 6.33 million people | 2.95 million people | Kenya |
| 1990s | 10.64 million people | 6.91 million people | 3.74 million people | Kenya |
| 2000s | 12.13 million people | 7.66 million people | 4.47 million people | Kenya |
| 2010s | 12.95 million people | 9.13 million people | 3.82 million people | Kenya |
| 2020s | 12.88 million people | 11.80 million people | 1.08 million people | Kenya |
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, Kenya or Sudan?
- Kenya, at 12.88 million people against 11.80 million people in Sudan as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Kenya and Sudan?
- 1.08 million people, with Kenya ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Kenya and Sudan?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Kenya and Sudan rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Kenya ranks 27th and Sudan ranks 29th 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.