Rural population in Madagascar
Madagascar: Rural population was 67.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Madagascar, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Madagascar stood at 67.1%. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Madagascar peaked at 89.2% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 67.1%, in 2025.
That places Madagascar 29th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 87.7% | 86.3% | 89.2% | 10 |
| 1970s | 83.8% | 81.9% | 85.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 79.9% | 78.4% | 81.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 76.7% | 75.3% | 78.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 73.7% | 72.4% | 75.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 71.0% | 69.7% | 72.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 68.2% | 67.1% | 69.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More agriculture & rural data for Madagascar
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.3% (2024)
- Rural population growth 1.7% (2025)
- Rural population 21.97 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 21.7% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.26 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.22 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 2,426 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 5.39 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 7.28 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Madagascar?
- Rural population in Madagascar was 67.1% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 89.2% in 1960.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 67.1% in 2025.
- How does Madagascar rank for rural population?
- Madagascar ranks 29th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Madagascar 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.
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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.