Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados

Barbados: Share of urban population who live in the largest city was 49.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
49.8%
World rank
29th
of 179 countries
All-time high
57.1%
in 1985
All-time low
48.1%
in 1950
Years of data
15
1950–2020

Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados, 1950–2020

02040601950198520201950: 48.1 %1955: 49.6 %1960: 51.2 %1965: 51.8 %1970: 53.7 %1975: 55.5 %1980: 56.2 %1985: 57.1 %1990: 55.7 %1995: 54.6 %2000: 53.4 %2005: 54.6 %2010: 53.8 %2015: 54.4 %2020: 49.8 %

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados is 49.8%, measured in 2020.

The figure is down 7.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados peaked at 57.1% in 1985 and was at its lowest, 48.1%, in 1950.

Barbados ranks 29th of 179 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 48.8% 48.1% 49.6% 2
1960s 51.5% 51.2% 51.8% 2
1970s 54.6% 53.7% 55.5% 2
1980s 56.6% 56.2% 57.1% 2
1990s 55.2% 54.6% 55.7% 2
2000s 54.0% 53.4% 54.6% 2
2010s 54.1% 53.8% 54.4% 2
2020s 49.8% 49.8% 49.8% 1

Countries ranked near Barbados

  1. 26 Equatorial Guinea 50.4% compare
  2. 27 Mauritania 50.2% compare
  3. 28 Estonia 49.9% compare
  4. 30 Panama 47.8% compare
  5. 31 Armenia 47.7% compare
  6. 32 South Korea 47.6% compare

See the full ranking of 179 places →

More population data for Barbados

All data for Barbados →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados?
Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Barbados was 49.8% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Barbados?
The highest recorded value was 57.1% in 1985.
What is the lowest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Barbados?
The lowest recorded value was 48.1% in 1950.
How does Barbados rank for share of urban population who live in the largest city?
Barbados ranks 29th out of 179 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of urban population who live in the largest city rising or falling in Barbados?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Barbados data come from?
The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of urban population who live in the largest city. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of urban population who live in the largest city
Unit
%
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
179 places, 2,452 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Percentage of the urban population living in the country's largest city (by population). City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.