Rural population in Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America & Caribbean: Rural population was 18.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Latin America & Caribbean, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Latin America & Caribbean stood at 18.5%. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.3% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 51.1% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 18.5%, 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 | 47.8% | 44.3% | 51.1% | 10 |
| 1970s | 39.5% | 35.6% | 43.5% | 10 |
| 1980s | 32.2% | 29.7% | 34.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 27.1% | 24.9% | 29.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 23.0% | 21.8% | 24.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.7% | 19.8% | 21.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.0% | 18.5% | 19.6% | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for Latin America & Caribbean
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
- Rural population growth -0.6% (2025)
- Rural population 123.28 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.8% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 502.91 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 51.92 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 4,828 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 250.65 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 180.47 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Rural population in Latin America & Caribbean was 18.5% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 51.1% in 1960.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.5% in 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean 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.