Annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Annual growth rate of urban population share was 2.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
2.0%
Change on year
down 13.4%
World rank
11th
of 236 countries
All-time high
3.4%
in 2008
All-time low
0.1%
in 2006
Years of data
76
1950–2025
Annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia, 1950–2025
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia stood at 2.0%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 13.4% on the previous year and down 8.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia peaked at 3.4% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2006.
That places Ethiopia 11th out of 236 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 76 years of available data.
Annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2.1% | — |
| 1951 | 1.7% | -19.9% |
| 1952 | 1.7% | +4.4% |
| 1953 | 1.8% | +1.6% |
| 1954 | 1.8% | +1.3% |
| 1955 | 1.8% | +1.1% |
| 1956 | 1.8% | +0.9% |
| 1957 | 1.8% | +0.8% |
| 1958 | 1.9% | +0.6% |
| 1959 | 1.9% | +0.5% |
| 1960 | 1.9% | +0.3% |
| 1961 | 1.9% | +0.2% |
| 1962 | 1.9% | +0.1% |
| 1963 | 1.9% | -0.0% |
| 1964 | 1.9% | -0.1% |
| 1965 | 1.9% | -0.2% |
| 1966 | 1.9% | -0.4% |
| 1967 | 1.9% | -0.1% |
| 1968 | 1.9% | +0.5% |
| 1969 | 1.9% | +0.7% |
| 1970 | 1.9% | +0.6% |
| 1971 | 1.9% | +0.5% |
| 1972 | 1.9% | +0.4% |
| 1973 | 1.9% | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 1.9% | +0.3% |
| 1975 | 1.9% | +0.2% |
| 1976 | 1.9% | +0.1% |
| 1977 | 1.9% | +0.1% |
| 1978 | 1.9% | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1.9% | -0.0% |
| 1980 | 1.9% | -0.1% |
| 1981 | 1.9% | -0.1% |
| 1982 | 1.9% | -0.2% |
| 1983 | 1.9% | -0.5% |
| 1984 | 2.0% | +3.0% |
| 1985 | 2.1% | +6.4% |
| 1986 | 2.2% | +5.5% |
| 1987 | 2.3% | +2.2% |
| 1988 | 2.3% | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 2.2% | -2.1% |
| 1990 | 2.1% | -4.1% |
| 1991 | 2.0% | -6.1% |
| 1992 | 1.8% | -8.2% |
| 1993 | 1.6% | -11.0% |
| 1994 | 1.4% | -15.9% |
| 1995 | 1.3% | -2.4% |
| 1996 | 1.5% | +15.6% |
| 1997 | 1.4% | -7.0% |
| 1998 | 1.4% | -2.5% |
| 1999 | 1.4% | -1.2% |
| 2000 | 1.4% | -2.0% |
| 2001 | 1.4% | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 1.4% | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 1.4% | -2.3% |
| 2004 | 1.4% | +2.1% |
| 2005 | 1.6% | +15.8% |
| 2006 | 0.1% | -94.9% |
| 2007 | 1.7% | +1941.7% |
| 2008 | 3.4% | +103.5% |
| 2009 | 2.0% | -42.8% |
| 2010 | 2.0% | +4.3% |
| 2011 | 2.0% | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 2.0% | +3.4% |
| 2013 | 2.2% | +8.5% |
| 2014 | 2.2% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 2.2% | +4.4% |
| 2018 | 2.3% | +3.0% |
| 2019 | 1.9% | -15.5% |
| 2020 | 1.9% | -1.7% |
| 2021 | 2.6% | +38.1% |
| 2022 | 2.0% | -22.8% |
| 2023 | 1.8% | -9.7% |
| 2024 | 2.3% | +25.0% |
| 2025 | 2.0% | -13.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.6% | 1.3% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.6% | 0.1% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.1% | 1.8% | 2.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More population data for Ethiopia
- Population regions with projections, annual growth rate 0.4782 % change on previous year (2100)
- Urban and rural population 2050, annual growth rate 1.28 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population long run with projections, annual growth rate 0.4782 % change on previous year (2100)
- Un population 2024 vs 2022, annual growth rate 0.2918 % change on previous year (2100)
- Projected population under age 5, annual growth rate -0.229 % change on previous year (2100)
- World population growth 0.5% (2100)
- Population density 325.45 people per km² (2100)
- Number of children under 5, by world region 23.22 million people (2100)
- Population growth rate, by level of development 0.5% (2100)
- Number of people living in urban and rural areas, annual growth rate 4.7 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia?
- Annual growth rate of urban population share in Ethiopia was 2.0% in 2025, according to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual growth rate of urban population share recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.4% in 2008.
- What is the lowest annual growth rate of urban population share recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2006.
- How does Ethiopia rank for annual growth rate of urban population share?
- Ethiopia ranks 11th out of 236 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual growth rate of urban population share rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ethiopia data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Annual growth rate of urban population share. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 76 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average annual rate of change of the share of the population living in urban areas.