Rural population in Namibia
Namibia: Rural population was 1.52 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Namibia, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Namibia stood at 1.52 million. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 17.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Namibia peaked at 1.52 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 453,091, in 1960.
That places Namibia 114th 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 | 497,660 | 453,091 | 553,185 | 10 |
| 1970s | 646,676 | 568,827 | 716,696 | 10 |
| 1980s | 811,418 | 729,856 | 945,059 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.12 million | 1.00 million | 1.22 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.24 million | 1.23 million | 1.26 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.29 million | 1.23 million | 1.38 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.47 million | 1.40 million | 1.52 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Namibia
More agriculture & rural data for Namibia
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
- Rural population 49.1% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.1% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 7.0% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.05 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 339,089 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 451.2 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 153,012 metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 27.07 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Namibia?
- Rural population in Namibia was 1.52 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Namibia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.52 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Namibia?
- The lowest recorded value was 453,091 in 1960.
- How does Namibia rank for rural population?
- Namibia ranks 114th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Namibia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Namibia 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.