World ranking · 2026

Urban population by country, 2026

58% of the world’s people live in urban areas in 2026, counting each country’s towns and cities as it defines them; the UN projects 67% by 2050. Definitions differ, so a 60% here is not always comparable with a 60% there.

Highest

1. Hong Kong100.0
2. Singapore100.0
3. Kuwait100.0
4. Bahrain100.0
5. Qatar99.4

Lowest

1. Papua New Guinea16.2
2. Malawi18.0
3. Niger18.7
4. Sri Lanka20.6
5. South Sudan22.0

38 countries of a million people or more are at least 80% urban.
13 are under 30% urban, most of them in Africa and South Asia.

Highest and lowest among countries of a million people or more.

On the map

Tap a country for its figures.

Darker = more of the population lives in towns and cities, as each country defines them.

Share living in urban areas, %

20%35%50%65%80%90%

All 237 countries and areas

Urban population by country, 2026
#
1	Hong Kong	100.0	7,378,602
2	Singapore	100.0	5,905,748
3	Kuwait	100.0	5,102,773
4	Bahrain	100.0	1,675,572
5	Macao	100.0	723,188
6	Cayman Islands	100.0	77,196
7	Bermuda	100.0	64,459
8	Sint Maarten	100.0	44,447
9	Gibraltar	100.0	40,867
10	Monaco	100.0	38,087
11	Saint Martin	100.0	23,898
12	Anguilla	100.0	14,817
13	Nauru	100.0	12,101
14	Saint Barthelemy	100.0	11,550
15	Vatican	100.0	506
16	Qatar	99.4	3,173,559
17	Reunion	97.3	886,298
18	San Marino	97.2	33,605
19	Martinique	96.9	337,711
20	Guadeloupe	96.5	372,453
21	Netherlands	96.2	18,448,775
22	Uruguay	95.7	3,382,537
23	Malta	95.7	549,011
24	U.S. Virgin Islands	95.4	83,400
25	Luxembourg	94.9	687,448
26	Turks and Caicos Islands	94.6	47,148
27	Mayotte	94.5	347,536
28	Puerto Rico	94.4	3,222,688
29	Iceland	94.3	402,329
30	Guam	94.3	170,185
31	Jordan	93.5	11,589,532
32	Japan	92.4	122,427,731
33	Argentina	92.4	46,003,734
34	Gabon	92.3	2,647,400
35	Northern Mariana Islands	92.3	42,914
36	Israel	91.6	9,647,689
37	Curacao	91.5	185,440
38	Lebanon	91.1	5,897,467
39	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	90.2	5,513
40	Turkey	89.6	87,926,082
41	Venezuela	89.4	28,633,711
42	Chile	89.4	19,945,850
43	Sweden	89.3	10,701,046
44	Denmark	89.0	6,023,520
45	Andorra	89.0	83,753
46	Greenland	88.8	55,629
47	Brazil	88.5	213,562,666
48	Libya	87.9	7,539,852
49	Australia	87.8	27,227,096
50	Belgium	87.7	11,774,642
51	Palestine	87.6	5,692,790
52	Western Sahara	87.0	610,813
53	French Guiana	86.7	318,872
54	United Arab Emirates	86.1	11,574,682
55	Peru	86.0	34,922,148
56	Switzerland	86.0	9,007,798
57	Saudi Arabia	84.8	35,165,787
58	New Zealand	84.1	5,287,479
59	Norway	83.8	5,652,989
60	United Kingdom	83.4	69,931,528
61	Canada	83.1	40,467,728
62	Germany	82.3	83,644,258
63	Falkland Islands	81.8	3,465
64	Bahamas	81.3	404,628
65	South Korea	81.2	51,600,388
66	Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba	81.1	31,913
67	Spain	80.7	47,850,793
68	United States	80.3	349,035,494
69	Mexico	80.3	132,997,658
70	Costa Rica	80.1	5,174,789
71	American Samoa	80.1	45,318
72	Belarus	79.8	8,937,018
73	Oman	79.6	5,671,458
74	Greece	79.5	9,897,116
75	Marshall Islands	79.5	35,075
76	Palau	79.4	17,614
77	Colombia	79.1	53,936,226
78	France	78.9	66,746,401
79	Taiwan	78.9	23,011,292
80	Cabo Verde	78.5	529,630
81	Malaysia	77.9	36,385,115
82	Iran	77.7	93,168,497
83	Cuba	77.3	10,892,659
84	Cook Islands	77.2	12,826
85	Algeria	76.4	48,028,334
86	El Salvador	76.0	6,391,254
87	Russia	75.4	143,394,458
88	Brunei	75.2	469,775
89	Finland	74.8	5,621,739
90	Bulgaria	74.4	6,667,660
91	Dominica	74.4	65,511
92	Czechia	73.0	10,527,780
93	Djibouti	73.0	1,199,459
94	Dominican Republic	72.7	11,609,500
95	Angola	72.3	40,215,180
96	Syria	72.1	26,472,497
97	Bolivia	71.9	12,749,291
98	Equatorial Guinea	71.8	1,984,468
99	Mongolia	71.3	3,556,798
100	Tunisia	71.1	12,415,138
101	Hungary	70.9	9,585,818
102	Paraguay	70.9	7,095,279
103	Estonia	70.7	1,331,062
104	Iraq	70.0	48,007,437
105	Austria	70.0	9,107,266
106	Italy	69.8	58,926,166
107	Ukraine	69.7	39,535,848
108	Sao Tome and Principe	69.5	244,994
109	Lithuania	69.3	2,797,338
110	Latvia	68.8	1,835,935
111	Botswana	68.5	2,603,388
112	New Caledonia	68.4	297,892
113	Nepal	67.2	29,629,410
114	China	66.8	1,412,914,089
115	Cyprus	66.7	1,382,334
116	Panama	66.3	4,625,718
117	Tuvalu	66.2	9,362
118	Armenia	66.0	2,930,915
119	Suriname	65.8	645,256
120	Gambia	65.7	2,884,079
121	Montenegro	65.7	626,233
122	Ireland	64.8	5,356,950
123	Nigeria	64.6	242,431,832
124	North Korea	64.5	26,633,691
125	Congo	64.4	6,637,786
126	Kiribati	64.3	138,445
127	South Africa	64.0	65,453,084
128	Thailand	63.7	71,559,614
129	Ecuador	63.6	18,444,506
130	Morocco	63.5	38,762,441
131	North Macedonia	63.2	1,804,062
132	Serbia	62.9	6,641,964
133	Kazakhstan	62.7	21,083,626
134	Mauritania	62.4	5,461,319
135	French Polynesia	61.8	283,076
136	Portugal	61.7	10,395,362
137	Aruba	61.7	108,164
138	Georgia	61.3	3,804,642
139	Poland	60.2	37,843,188
140	Indonesia	60.0	287,886,782
141	Fiji	60.0	937,282
142	Jamaica	59.9	2,833,404
143	Barbados	59.9	282,724
144	Honduras	59.7	11,184,760
145	Nicaragua	59.6	7,097,329
146	Ghana	59.5	35,697,557
147	Albania	59.2	2,751,025
148	Azerbaijan	58.7	10,454,855
149	British Virgin Islands	58.3	39,936
150	Croatia	58.1	3,822,345
151	Guatemala	56.6	18,967,978
152	Liberia	56.6	5,853,949
153	Senegal	56.3	19,366,548
154	Haiti	56.2	12,037,506
155	Slovenia	56.2	2,114,574
156	Philippines	56.1	117,724,472
157	Cameroon	55.9	30,640,817
158	Somalia	55.6	20,305,907
159	Côte d'Ivoire	55.1	33,494,346
160	Benin	54.2	15,170,420
161	Trinidad and Tobago	54.0	1,513,268
162	Bosnia and Herzegovina	53.3	3,114,242
163	Slovakia	53.2	5,451,342
164	Romania	52.2	18,800,605
165	Isle of Man	52.1	84,054
166	Kosovo	51.6	1,666,992
167	Namibia	51.3	3,153,246
168	Uzbekistan	51.1	37,724,223
169	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	48.1	99,244
170	Guinea-Bissau	47.2	2,297,808
171	Turkmenistan	47.1	7,736,632
172	Sierra Leone	46.5	8,996,744
173	Zambia	46.4	22,521,915
174	Lesotho	45.7	2,389,336
175	Seychelles	45.7	134,959
176	DR Congo	45.5	116,452,162
177	Togo	45.0	9,930,918
178	Central African Republic	45.0	5,698,984
179	Bhutan	44.3	802,214
180	Moldova	43.9	2,961,253
181	Egypt	43.0	120,101,175
182	Maldives	43.0	531,517
183	Belize	41.4	428,644
184	Cambodia	41.3	18,051,219
185	Zimbabwe	41.1	17,273,580
186	Laos	41.1	7,974,018
187	Pakistan	39.9	259,299,792
188	Faroe Islands	39.9	56,526
189	Vietnam	39.2	102,177,431
190	Mauritius	39.1	1,265,059
191	Guinea	39.0	15,441,992
192	Mozambique	38.0	36,639,850
193	Tanzania	37.6	72,563,780
194	Niue	37.6	1,822
195	Yemen	37.2	42,961,653
196	Saint Helena	37.2	5,148
197	Grenada	36.8	117,362
198	India	36.0	1,476,625,576
199	Sudan	35.0	53,282,719
200	Kyrgyzstan	34.8	7,400,464
201	Eritrea	34.6	3,682,669
202	Jersey	34.5	104,106
203	Comoros	34.4	899,010
204	Bangladesh	33.8	177,818,044
205	Madagascar	33.4	33,522,052
206	Mali	32.8	25,932,275
207	Kenya	32.6	58,636,412
208	Uganda	32.6	52,761,470
209	Solomon Islands	32.0	858,288
210	Saint Kitts and Nevis	32.0	46,992
211	Rwanda	31.9	14,889,693
212	Myanmar	30.7	55,184,819
213	Burkina Faso	29.5	24,601,700
214	Guernsey	29.5	64,610
215	Saint Lucia	29.1	180,488
216	Timor Leste	29.0	1,436,923
217	Chad	28.2	21,560,380
218	Eswatini	27.2	1,269,859
219	Burundi	26.5	14,729,157
220	Guyana	26.5	840,890
221	Afghanistan	26.2	45,047,068
222	Tajikistan	26.1	10,978,598
223	Ethiopia	24.6	138,902,185
224	Antigua and Barbuda	24.3	94,626
225	Micronesia	22.5	114,182
226	Vanuatu	22.4	342,564
227	South Sudan	22.0	12,436,037
228	Tonga	21.2	103,291
229	Sri Lanka	20.6	23,348,315
230	Niger	18.7	28,814,878
231	Malawi	18.0	22,785,535
232	Samoa	17.5	220,528
233	Papua New Guinea	16.2	10,947,848
234	Liechtenstein	14.6	40,368
235	Montserrat	9.0	4,328
236	Wallis and Futuna	0.0	11,113
237	Tokelau	0.0	2,691

Questions

Which country is the most urbanized?

Among countries of a million people or more, Hong Kong (100.0%), then Singapore (100.0%), Kuwait (100.0%), Bahrain (100.0%). City-states such as Singapore and Monaco are 100% urban.

Which country is the least urbanized?

Papua New Guinea, with 16.2% of people in urban areas, then Malawi (18.0%), Niger (18.7%), Sri Lanka (20.6%).

What share of the world lives in cities?

About 58% in 2026 on national definitions, up from about 29% in 1950. The UN's newer, uniform measure (the Degree of Urbanisation) counts cities and towns separately; see the largest cities in the world.

More rankings

Fertility rate by country · Birth rate by country · Median age by country · Life expectancy by country · Population growth rate by country · Population density by country · Largest countries by area · Death rate by country · Infant mortality rate by country · Elderly population by country · Net migration rate by country · Sex ratio by country · Population by country

Urban share: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025). World Urbanization Prospects 2025. National definitions, CC BY 3.0 IGO. Population: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant. 2026 figures are the medium-variant projection. Method