Rural population in Middle income
Middle income: Rural population was 44.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Middle income, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Middle income stood at 44.6%. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and down 9.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Middle income peaked at 77.0% in 1962 and was at its lowest, 44.6%, 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 | 76.1% | 75.0% | 77.0% | 10 |
| 1970s | 73.1% | 70.9% | 74.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 67.9% | 65.6% | 70.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 63.1% | 60.3% | 65.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 56.5% | 53.5% | 59.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 49.7% | 46.9% | 53.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 45.5% | 44.6% | 46.5% | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for Middle income
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2024)
- Rural population growth 0.0% (2025)
- Rural population 2.69 billion (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 8.8% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 3.60 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 258.43 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,613 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 933.63 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 178.98 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Middle income?
- Rural population in Middle income was 44.6% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 77.0% in 1962.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 44.6% in 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Middle income 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.