Rural population in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)
East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries): Rural population was 38.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries), 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) recorded 38.0% for rural population in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.2% on the previous year and down 17.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 82.9% in 1963 and was at its lowest, 38.0%, in 2025.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 81.9% | 80.9% | 82.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 81.5% | 80.0% | 81.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 76.4% | 73.4% | 79.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 69.7% | 65.0% | 73.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 58.4% | 53.3% | 63.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 46.6% | 41.4% | 52.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 39.1% | 38.0% | 40.7% | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.3% (2024)
- Rural population growth -1.0% (2025)
- Rural population 804.03 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 7.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.72 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 8.99 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,826 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 34.40 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 344.96 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Rural population in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) was 38.0% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The highest recorded value was 82.9% in 1963.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The lowest recorded value was 38.0% in 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population (% of total population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.