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

Myanmar: Share of urban population who live in the largest city was 14.7% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
14.7%
World rank
144th
of 179 countries
All-time high
14.7%
in 2020
All-time low
11.3%
in 1975
Years of data
15
1950–2020

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

0510151950198520201950: 13.4 %1955: 13.1 %1960: 12.6 %1965: 12.1 %1970: 11.6 %1975: 11.3 %1980: 11.6 %1985: 11.8 %1990: 12 %1995: 12.2 %2000: 12.4 %2005: 13 %2010: 13.9 %2015: 14.7 %2020: 14.7 %

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

Analysis

Myanmar recorded 14.7% for share of urban population who live in the largest city in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of up 6.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Myanmar peaked at 14.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.3%, in 1975.

Myanmar ranks 144th of 179 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 13.2% 13.1% 13.4% 2
1960s 12.4% 12.1% 12.6% 2
1970s 11.5% 11.3% 11.6% 2
1980s 11.7% 11.6% 11.8% 2
1990s 12.1% 12.0% 12.2% 2
2000s 12.7% 12.4% 13.0% 2
2010s 14.3% 13.9% 14.7% 2
2020s 14.7% 14.7% 14.7% 1

Countries ranked near Myanmar

  1. 141 Belgium 15.3% compare
  2. 142 Morocco 15.0% compare
  3. 143 Democratic Republic of Congo 14.9% compare
  4. 145 Nepal 14.7% compare
  5. 146 Spain 14.6% compare
  6. 147 Kazakhstan 14.6% compare

See the full ranking of 179 places →

More population data for Myanmar

All data for Myanmar →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban population who live in the largest city in Myanmar?
Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Myanmar was 14.7% 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 Myanmar?
The highest recorded value was 14.7% in 2020.
What is the lowest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Myanmar?
The lowest recorded value was 11.3% in 1975.
How does Myanmar rank for share of urban population who live in the largest city?
Myanmar ranks 144th out of 179 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of urban population who live in the largest city rising or falling in Myanmar?
Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Myanmar 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.