World Rural Population

The number of people living in rural areas will remain almost the same between 2015 and 2030. In this period, the world rural population is expected to increase by just 110 million people. In the same period, the total world population will increase by more than a billion people.

Humans: A rural species

Historically, mankind has been a “rural” species. Modern humans have existed for about 300,000 years and for more than 290,000 years, cities simply did not exist. The world population was completely rural. 

The first cities

The first cities were established about 6.500 years ago but for many years only made of a small fragment of the population. In 1800, only about 2 percent of the global population lived in urban areas.

A declining rural population

As late as 1950, 70 percent of the world population lived in rural areas but in 2008, for the first time in history, less than half of the world population lived in rural areas. As of 2018, the global rural population is at 45 percent and by 2050, it will be around 32 percent.

Differences between continents

In North and South America the rural population is below 20 percent and in Europe it’s about 26 percent of the population. On the other hand, in Asia, the rural population make up 51 percent and in Africa 59 percent of the population. 

90 percent of the global rural population in Africa and Asia

As of 2018, Africa and Asia are home to almost 90 percent of the world’s rural population. India has the largest rural population with 893 million people followed by China with 578 million.