Rural population in Australia
Australia: Rural population was 3.39 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Australia, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Australia stood at 3.39 million. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 8.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Australia peaked at 3.39 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1.84 million, in 1970.
That places Australia 88th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.91 million | 1.87 million | 1.96 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.94 million | 1.84 million | 2.05 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.28 million | 2.09 million | 2.46 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.64 million | 2.49 million | 2.80 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.91 million | 2.83 million | 3.01 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.12 million | 3.04 million | 3.22 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.32 million | 3.26 million | 3.39 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More agriculture & rural data for Australia
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2025)
- Rural population 12.3% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.3% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 40.76 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 19.46 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 2,690 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 52.35 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 102.69 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Australia?
- Rural population in Australia was 3.39 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.39 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.84 million in 1970.
- How does Australia rank for rural population?
- Australia ranks 88th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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.