Rural population in Eswatini
Eswatini: Rural population was 920,507 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Eswatini, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Eswatini stood at 920,507. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Eswatini peaked at 920,507 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 331,330, in 1960.
That places Eswatini 133rd 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 | 360,107 | 331,330 | 390,118 | 10 |
| 1970s | 432,927 | 396,850 | 474,427 | 10 |
| 1980s | 550,143 | 484,545 | 645,983 | 10 |
| 1990s | 745,529 | 672,338 | 794,202 | 10 |
| 2000s | 834,434 | 803,545 | 859,429 | 10 |
| 2010s | 876,537 | 863,384 | 892,622 | 10 |
| 2020s | 910,446 | 898,539 | 920,507 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Eswatini
More agriculture & rural data for Eswatini
- Agricultural raw materials exports 6.2% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.9% (2023)
- Rural population 73.3% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 330.70 million current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 71,001 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 1,228 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 87,173 metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 80.95 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Eswatini?
- Rural population in Eswatini was 920,507 in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Eswatini?
- The highest recorded value was 920,507 in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Eswatini?
- The lowest recorded value was 331,330 in 1960.
- How does Eswatini rank for rural population?
- Eswatini ranks 133rd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Eswatini?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Eswatini 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.