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

Madagascar: Share of urban population who live in the largest city was 28.4% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
28.4%
World rank
80th
of 179 countries
All-time high
28.4%
in 2020
All-time low
18.4%
in 1975
Years of data
15
1950–2020

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

01020301950198520201950: 20.8 %1955: 19.3 %1960: 20.2 %1965: 19.2 %1970: 18.7 %1975: 18.4 %1980: 19.5 %1985: 20.8 %1990: 24.2 %1995: 24 %2000: 22.4 %2005: 21.2 %2010: 23.6 %2015: 26.3 %2020: 28.4 %

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

Analysis

In 2020, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Madagascar stood at 28.4%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of up 20.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Madagascar peaked at 28.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 18.4%, in 1975.

Madagascar ranks 80th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 20.0% 19.3% 20.8% 2
1960s 19.7% 19.2% 20.2% 2
1970s 18.5% 18.4% 18.7% 2
1980s 20.2% 19.5% 20.8% 2
1990s 24.1% 24.0% 24.2% 2
2000s 21.8% 21.2% 22.4% 2
2010s 24.9% 23.6% 26.3% 2
2020s 28.4% 28.4% 28.4% 1

Countries ranked near Madagascar

  1. 77 Montenegro 28.9% compare
  2. 78 Belarus 28.6% compare
  3. 79 Tunisia 28.4% compare
  4. 81 Malaysia 28.2% compare
  5. 82 New Zealand 28.1% compare
  6. 83 Somalia 27.9% compare

See the full ranking of 179 places →

More population data for Madagascar

All data for Madagascar →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban population who live in the largest city in Madagascar?
Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Madagascar was 28.4% 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 Madagascar?
The highest recorded value was 28.4% in 2020.
What is the lowest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Madagascar?
The lowest recorded value was 18.4% in 1975.
How does Madagascar rank for share of urban population who live in the largest city?
Madagascar ranks 80th out of 179 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of urban population who live in the largest city rising or falling in Madagascar?
Over the last ten years it is up 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Madagascar 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.