Statizoid

Annual rate of change in urban populations by country

Countries reporting
144
Highest
5.2
Sierra Leone
Lowest
-5.33
Switzerland
Median
0.5734
Years covered
66
1955–2020
Data points
1,685

What the numbers show

Annual rate of change in urban populations is currently reported for 144 countries. The highest value is 5.2 in Sierra Leone; the lowest is -5.33 in Switzerland.

The median across all reporting countries is 0.5734, and the mean is 0.6074.

Over the past decade 73 countries rose and 71 fell. The largest increase was in Kyrgyzstan (up 17,813.1%), and the largest decrease in Palestine (down 3,649.9%).

Annual rate of change in urban populations: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Sierra Leone 5.2 2020 up 463.0% volatile
2 Somalia 4.5 2020 up 198.6% volatile
3 Sweden 3.96 2020 up 312.3% volatile
4 Cambodia 3.67 2020 up 131.4% rising
5 Kazakhstan 3.38 2020 up 78.5% volatile
6 Gabon 3.1 2020 up 465.0% volatile
7 Albania 3 2020 down 14.9% falling
8 Benin 2.86 2020 up 316.2% volatile
9 Djibouti 2.57 2020 up 758.6% volatile
10 Angola 2.47 2020 down 30.5% volatile
11 Burkina Faso 2.29 2020 up 29.3% volatile
12 Mali 2.23 2020 up 86.2% volatile
13 Yemen 2.09 2020 up 175.3% volatile
14 Congo 2.04 2020 up 45.6% volatile
15 Thailand 2.04 2020 down 42.6% volatile
16 Cote d'Ivoire 1.95 2020 up 522.6% volatile
17 Tanzania 1.89 2020 down 40.1% volatile
18 Honduras 1.88 2020 up 444.5% volatile
19 Syria 1.82 2020 up 26.5% volatile
20 Jordan 1.8 2020 up 3,192.8% volatile
21 China 1.75 2020 up 102.9% volatile
22 Cameroon 1.71 2020 up 25.5% volatile
23 Mozambique 1.7 2020 up 202.0% volatile
24 South Africa 1.7 2020 up 14.7% volatile
25 Ghana 1.68 2020 down 23.4% volatile
26 Mongolia 1.61 2020 down 40.6% rising
27 Democratic Republic of Congo 1.56 2020 up 133.8% volatile
28 Niger 1.55 2020 up 214.6% volatile
29 Bolivia 1.55 2020 up 4,067.1% volatile
30 Sri Lanka 1.55 2020 up 1,601.1% volatile
31 Madagascar 1.51 2020 down 29.5% volatile
32 Serbia 1.5 2020 up 144.0% rising
33 Estonia 1.49 2020 up 239.5% volatile
34 Bulgaria 1.43 2020 down 7.2% volatile
35 Moldova 1.35 2020 up 127.2% volatile
36 Vietnam 1.31 2020 down 40.6% volatile
37 Kenya 1.3 2020 up 39.4% volatile
38 Malaysia 1.29 2020 down 22.7% volatile
39 United States 1.22 2020 up 105.6% volatile
40 Lithuania 1.21 2020 up 109.5% volatile
41 Egypt 1.17 2020 up 29.7% volatile
42 Belarus 1.17 2020 up 85.0% volatile
43 Spain 1.15 2020 up 732.5% volatile
44 Panama 1.13 2020 up 609.2% volatile
45 Portugal 1.11 2020 up 867.1% volatile
46 Nepal 1.11 2020 down 53.6% volatile
47 Ethiopia 1.02 2020 down 61.7% volatile
48 Bangladesh 1.02 2020 down 22.5% volatile
49 Italy 0.9553 2020 up 848.0% volatile
50 Lebanon 0.9374 2020 up 224.8% volatile
51 North Korea 0.9145 2020 up 281.2% volatile
52 Hong Kong 0.911 2020 up 733.2% volatile
53 Afghanistan 0.8936 2020 up 6.3% volatile
54 Saudi Arabia 0.8732 2020 down 28.5% volatile
55 Zambia 0.8105 2020 down 1.8% volatile
56 Mauritania 0.808 2020 down 29.6% volatile
57 Germany 0.7924 2020 up 221.9% volatile
58 Costa Rica 0.7751 2020 up 404.0% volatile
59 Australia 0.7441 2020 up 12.1% volatile
60 New Zealand 0.7229 2020 up 161.4% volatile
61 Turkey 0.7069 2020 down 49.9% volatile
62 Nigeria 0.6941 2020 down 68.2% volatile
63 Tajikistan 0.6807 2020 down 32.5% volatile
64 Denmark 0.6752 2020 down 31.0% volatile
65 Romania 0.6651 2020 down 14.1% volatile
66 Kuwait 0.6605 2020 up 742.8% volatile
67 Liberia 0.6547 2020 up 115.5% volatile
68 United Kingdom 0.6387 2020 down 13.7% volatile
69 Hungary 0.6009 2020 up 802.9% volatile
70 Austria 0.5871 2020 up 549.3% volatile
71 Togo 0.5827 2020 up 312.9% volatile
72 Turkmenistan 0.5786 2020 up 13.9% volatile
73 Nicaragua 0.5681 2020 up 13.2% volatile
74 Latvia 0.5634 2020 up 369.2% volatile
75 Gambia 0.5518 2020 down 70.1% volatile
76 Tunisia 0.5495 2020 down 79.1% volatile
77 Croatia 0.5398 2020 up 338.2% volatile
78 Chad 0.4749 2020 up 232.6% volatile
79 Iran 0.4625 2020 down 58.6% volatile
80 Algeria 0.4389 2020 down 45.0% volatile
81 Netherlands 0.4098 2020 up 1,281.5% volatile
82 Taiwan 0.4008 2020 up 29.0% volatile
83 Canada 0.3759 2020 down 63.7% volatile
84 Norway 0.3422 2020 down 54.0% volatile
85 Chile 0.3222 2020 up 8.9% volatile
86 Finland 0.2987 2020 up 239.7% volatile
87 Cuba 0.2512 2020 up 295.3% volatile
88 Kyrgyzstan 0.2466 2020 up 17,813.1% volatile
89 Dominican Republic 0.2462 2020 up 67.7% volatile
90 Jamaica 0.2439 2020 up 270.3% volatile
91 Russia 0.2393 2020 up 578.8% volatile
92 Philippines 0.2382 2020 down 20.9% volatile
93 Peru 0.2381 2020 down 31.2% volatile
94 North Macedonia 0.2314 2020 up 1,145.8% volatile
95 Pakistan 0.2206 2020 down 60.4% volatile
96 South Korea 0.2011 2020 up 380.5% volatile
97 Morocco 0.1668 2020 down 15.8% volatile
98 Ecuador 0.1489 2020 up 195.0% volatile
99 Czechia 0.1454 2020 down 75.0% volatile
100 India 0.14 2020 down 63.6% falling
101 Haiti 0.1378 2020 up 102.7% volatile
102 Indonesia 0.1256 2020 down 68.4% volatile
103 Brazil 0.1222 2020 down 76.7% volatile
104 Bahrain 0.0971 2020 down 4.6% volatile
105 Mauritius 0.076 2020 up 123.7% volatile
106 Israel 0.0659 2020 up 126.9% volatile
107 Uzbekistan 0.0646 2020 down 96.5% volatile
108 United Arab Emirates 0.0231 2020 down 97.9% volatile
109 Colombia 0.0078 2020 down 99.2% volatile
110 Japan -0.0007 2020 down 100.8% volatile
111 Singapore -0.006 2020 down 128.8% volatile
112 Greece -0.0375 2020 down 248.8% volatile
113 Iraq -0.0449 2020 down 102.6% volatile
114 Belgium -0.05 2020 down 112.7% volatile
115 Ireland -0.1772 2020 up 80.4% volatile
116 Palestine -0.1966 2020 down 3,649.9% volatile
117 Ukraine -0.1976 2020 down 84.2% volatile
118 El Salvador -0.2128 2020 up 39.9% volatile
119 Bosnia and Herzegovina -0.2416 2015 up 77.5% volatile
120 Argentina -0.3186 2020 down 224.7% volatile
121 Azerbaijan -0.3786 2020 down 286.4% volatile
122 Libya -0.4007 2020 up 5.8% volatile
123 Central African Republic -0.4335 2020 down 1,243.2% volatile
124 Sudan -0.4664 2020 down 172.7% volatile
125 Uganda -0.4794 2020 down 150.6% volatile
126 France -0.495 2020 down 1,352.2% volatile
127 Senegal -0.5962 2020 down 119.4% volatile
128 Slovakia -0.6492 2005 down 1.0% volatile
129 Armenia -0.677 2020 down 397.6% volatile
130 Trinidad and Tobago -0.7137 2020 down 18.3% volatile
131 Uruguay -0.7516 2020 down 67.3% volatile
132 Georgia -0.814 2020 down 168.1% volatile
133 Myanmar -0.8873 2020 down 196.2% volatile
134 Venezuela -0.9253 2020 down 238.6% volatile
135 Guinea -0.9465 2020 down 188.3% volatile
136 Mexico -1.35 2020 down 191.7% volatile
137 Guatemala -1.49 2020 down 683.3% volatile
138 Malawi -1.98 2020 down 42.4% volatile
139 Puerto Rico -2.03 2020 down 1,425.3% volatile
140 Poland -2.03 2020 down 514.5% volatile
141 Zimbabwe -2.06 2020 down 400.7% volatile
142 Eritrea -2.15 2020 down 375.0% volatile
143 Paraguay -4.44 2020 down 233.1% volatile
144 Switzerland -5.33 2020 down 962.1% volatile

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Annual rate of change in urban populations by country. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 12 November 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/stat/annual-rate-of-change-in-urban-populations/

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About this data

Indicator
Annual rate of change in urban populations
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
144 places, 1,685 data points, 1955–2020
Last refreshed