Rural population in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Rural population was 59.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Zimbabwe, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
Zimbabwe recorded 59.5% for rural population in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Zimbabwe peaked at 87.5% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 59.5%, in 2025.
That places Zimbabwe 46th 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 | 85.6% | 83.1% | 87.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 80.4% | 78.2% | 82.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 74.6% | 71.1% | 77.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 68.8% | 67.7% | 70.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 67.4% | 67.3% | 67.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 66.2% | 63.8% | 67.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 61.1% | 59.5% | 63.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More agriculture & rural data for Zimbabwe
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
- Rural population growth 0.9% (2025)
- Rural population 10.09 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 9.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.85 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 1.57 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 743.9 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 1.17 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 26.21 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Zimbabwe?
- Rural population in Zimbabwe was 59.5% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 87.5% in 1960.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 59.5% in 2025.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for rural population?
- Zimbabwe ranks 46th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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
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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.