Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan: Rural population growth was 1.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan stood at 1.2%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 7.0% on the previous year and down 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan peaked at 2.7% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2013.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.3% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.1% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.3% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.2% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2023)
- Rural population 44.0% (2025)
- Rural population 364.70 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.8% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 347.82 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 11.69 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 1,678 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 19.62 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 102.71 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan →
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan was 1.2% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The highest recorded value was 2.7% in 1990.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2013.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.