Rural population in Arab World
Arab World: Rural population was 201.16 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Arab World, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Arab World recorded 201.16 million for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is up 1.6% on the previous year and up 17.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Arab World peaked at 201.16 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 63.21 million, in 1960.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 67.85 million | 63.21 million | 73.18 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 81.70 million | 74.51 million | 90.35 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 101.58 million | 92.67 million | 110.03 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 122.85 million | 112.62 million | 133.81 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 147.45 million | 136.28 million | 159.09 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 170.77 million | 161.45 million | 182.62 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 193.28 million | 185.62 million | 201.16 million | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for Arab World
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.1% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.7% (2023)
- Rural population 40.0% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 5.9% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 225.78 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 21.02 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 984.98 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 20.70 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 58.93 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Arab World?
- Rural population in Arab World was 201.16 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Arab World?
- The highest recorded value was 201.16 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Arab World?
- The lowest recorded value was 63.21 million in 1960.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Arab World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Arab World data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural 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. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.