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

Yemen: Share of urban population who live in the largest city was 11.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
11.8%
World rank
156th
of 179 countries
All-time high
11.8%
in 2020
All-time low
3.6%
in 1955
Years of data
15
1950–2020

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

46810121950198520201950: 3.7 %1955: 3.6 %1960: 3.8 %1965: 4.1 %1970: 4.7 %1975: 5.2 %1980: 5.1 %1985: 6.4 %1990: 8.5 %1995: 10.2 %2000: 11 %2005: 11.6 %2010: 11.3 %2015: 11.2 %2020: 11.8 %

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 Yemen stood at 11.8%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of up 4.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban population who live in the largest city in Yemen peaked at 11.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 3.6%, in 1955.

Yemen ranks 156th 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 3.7% 3.6% 3.7% 2
1960s 4.0% 3.8% 4.1% 2
1970s 4.9% 4.7% 5.2% 2
1980s 5.8% 5.1% 6.4% 2
1990s 9.4% 8.5% 10.2% 2
2000s 11.3% 11.0% 11.6% 2
2010s 11.3% 11.2% 11.3% 2
2020s 11.8% 11.8% 11.8% 1

Countries ranked near Yemen

  1. 153 North Korea 12.7% compare
  2. 154 Russia 12.4% compare
  3. 155 Iran 12.0% compare
  4. 157 Brazil 11.4% compare
  5. 158 Niger 11.3% compare
  6. 159 Rwanda 11.0% compare

See the full ranking of 179 places →

More population data for Yemen

All data for Yemen →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban population who live in the largest city in Yemen?
Share of urban population who live in the largest city in Yemen was 11.8% 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 Yemen?
The highest recorded value was 11.8% in 2020.
What is the lowest share of urban population who live in the largest city recorded in Yemen?
The lowest recorded value was 3.6% in 1955.
How does Yemen rank for share of urban population who live in the largest city?
Yemen ranks 156th out of 179 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of urban population who live in the largest city rising or falling in Yemen?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Yemen 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.