Share of population living in urban areas vs. GDP per capita in Iran

Iran: Share of population living in urban areas vs. GDP per capita was 77.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
77.4%
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
82nd
of 236 countries
All-time high
77.4%
in 2025
All-time low
27.5%
in 1950
Years of data
76
1950–2025

Share of population living in urban areas vs. GDP per capita in Iran, 1950–2025

020406080195019872025

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Iran recorded 77.4% for share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita in 2025. That is the highest value across all 76 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita in Iran peaked at 77.4% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 27.5%, in 1950.

That places Iran 82nd out of 236 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 76 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 30.3% 27.5% 33.3% 10
1960s 37.1% 34.0% 40.6% 10
1970s 45.5% 41.5% 49.2% 10
1980s 53.1% 49.9% 55.9% 10
1990s 60.0% 56.5% 63.7% 10
2000s 67.4% 64.5% 70.0% 10
2010s 73.0% 70.6% 75.2% 10
2020s 76.5% 75.6% 77.4% 6

Countries ranked near Iran

  1. 79 Colombia 78.8% compare
  2. 80 Cape Verde 77.6% compare
  3. 81 Malaysia 77.4% compare
  4. 83 Cuba 77.2% compare
  5. 84 Cook Islands 76.9% compare
  6. 85 Algeria 75.8% compare

See the full ranking of 237 places →

More population data for Iran

All data for Iran →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita in Iran?
Share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita in Iran was 77.4% in 2025, according to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita recorded in Iran?
The highest recorded value was 77.4% in 2025.
What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita recorded in Iran?
The lowest recorded value was 27.5% in 1950.
How does Iran rank for share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita?
Iran ranks 82nd out of 236 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of population living in urban areas vs. gdp per capita rising or falling in Iran?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iran data come from?
The figures come from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban areas vs. GDP per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 76 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of population living in urban areas vs. GDP per capita
Unit
%
Source
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
237 places, 18,012 data points, 1950–2025
Last refreshed

Share of the population living in urban areas, based on each country's national definition.