Portugal vs Sweden: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Portugal
3.06 million people
in 2020
Sweden
3.23 million people
in 2020
Portugal rank
86th
Sweden rank
85th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Portugal
- Sweden
How they compare
Sweden currently reports 3.23 million people against 3.06 million people in Portugal, a difference of 169,140 people.
That makes Sweden's figure about 1.1 times Portugal's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Portugal ahead.
Portugal ranks 86th and Sweden ranks 85th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Portugal averaged higher in 6 and Sweden in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Portugal | Sweden | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.18 million people | 2.83 million people | 346,045 people | Portugal |
| 1960s | 3.21 million people | 2.93 million people | 288,025 people | Portugal |
| 1970s | 3.23 million people | 3.03 million people | 199,490 people | Portugal |
| 1980s | 3.31 million people | 3.13 million people | 175,575 people | Portugal |
| 1990s | 3.24 million people | 3.18 million people | 63,640 people | Portugal |
| 2000s | 3.22 million people | 3.11 million people | 106,260 people | Portugal |
| 2010s | 3.13 million people | 3.15 million people | 18,470 people | Sweden |
| 2020s | 3.06 million people | 3.23 million people | 169,140 people | Sweden |
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, Portugal or Sweden?
- Sweden, at 3.23 million people against 3.06 million people in Portugal as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Portugal and Sweden?
- 169,140 people, with Sweden ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Portugal and Sweden?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Portugal and Sweden rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Portugal ranks 86th and Sweden ranks 85th 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.