Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area in Vancouver
Vancouver: Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area was 181 Square kilometres in 2030. ▲ Rising
Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area in Vancouver, 1975–2030
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
Vancouver recorded 181 Square kilometres for population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in 2030. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Vancouver peaked at 181 Square kilometres in 2025 and was at its lowest, 125 Square kilometres, in 1975.
That places Vancouver 54th out of 1372 regions with data for 2030, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 125 Square kilometres | 125 Square kilometres | 125 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 1980s | 130 Square kilometres | 128 Square kilometres | 132 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 1990s | 141.5 Square kilometres | 136 Square kilometres | 147 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2000s | 161 Square kilometres | 158 Square kilometres | 164 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2010s | 173 Square kilometres | 170 Square kilometres | 176 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 180 Square kilometres | 179 Square kilometres | 181 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2030s | 181 Square kilometres | 181 Square kilometres | 181 Square kilometres | 1 |
More population data for Vancouver
- Heat stress - Cities and FUAs — Mean population exposure to heat 12.43 Days per year (2025)
- Population by age and sex - Cities and FUAs 2.32 million Persons (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Vancouver?
- Population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Vancouver was 181 Square kilometres in 2030, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area recorded in Vancouver?
- The highest recorded value was 181 Square kilometres in 2025.
- What is the lowest population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area recorded in Vancouver?
- The lowest recorded value was 125 Square kilometres in 1975.
- How does Vancouver rank for population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area?
- Vancouver ranks 54th out of 1372 regions with data for 2030.
- Is population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area rising or falling in Vancouver?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Vancouver data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
<p align="justify">This dataset provides indicators of population density and built-up area in FUAs and cities.</p> <h3>Data sources and methodology</h3> <p align="justify"> FUA and city surfaces are calculated from FUA and city shapefiles, using GIS tools. Built-up data uses GHSL built-up surface grids <a href=https://doi.org/10.2760/098587>(European Commission, GHSL Data Package 2023)</a>. Population counts are extracted from the <a href=https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=Design&df[id]=DSD_FUA_DEMO%40DF_AGE_SEX&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.EDS>Population by age and sex - FUAs and cities</a> dataset. GHSL is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (100 m), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators on built-up areas. </p> <p align="justify"> These estimates may differ from official subnational built-up statistics due to differences in methodologies, such as top down remote-sensing based estimations versus bottom up cadastral or administrative data, along with differences in satellite imagery sources, spatial resolution, and model accuracy used to detect and classify built up areas. </p> <h3>Defining FUAs and cities</h3> <p align="justify">The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-definition-of-cities-and-functional-urban-areas.html">definition of functional urban areas</a> (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns <a href=https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264174108-en>(OECD, 2012)</a>. FUAs consist of: <ol> <li><b>A city</b> – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city.</li> <li><b>A commuting zone</b> – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city.</li> </ol> The delineation process includes: <ul> <li>Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA.</li> <li>Excluding non-contiguous municipalities.</li> </ul> The definition identifies 1 285 FUAs and 1 402 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries.</p> <h3>Cite this dataset</h3> <p>OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (<a href="http://data-explorer.oecd.org/s/1e6">Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs</a>), <a href=http://oe.cd/geostats>http://oe.cd/geostats</a></p> <h3>Further information</h3> <ul> <li> <a href=https://localdataportal.oecd.org/>OECD Local Data Portal </a> </li> <li> <a href=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-2024_f42db3bf-en.html/>OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance </a> </li> </ul> <p align="justify">For questions and/or comments, please email <a href="mailto:CitiesStat@oecd.org">CitiesStat@oecd.org</a>