What is rural population in New Zealand?

Rural population in New Zealand was 852,066 in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).

What is the highest rural population recorded in New Zealand?

The highest recorded value was 892,376 in 1960.

What is the lowest rural population recorded in New Zealand?

The lowest recorded value was 506,660 in 1990.

How does New Zealand rank for rural population?

New Zealand ranks 137th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.

Is rural population rising or falling in New Zealand?

Over the last ten years it is up 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this New Zealand 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.

Rural population in New Zealand

Name: Rural population in New Zealand
Creator: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

New Zealand: Rural population was 852,066 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

852,066

Change on year

up 0.3%

World rank

137th

of 215 countries

All-time high

892,376

in 1960

All-time low

506,660

in 1990

Years of data

1960–2025

Rural population in New Zealand, 1960–2025

Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).

Analysis

The most recent figure for rural population in New Zealand is 852,066, measured in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 24.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rural population in New Zealand peaked at 892,376 in 1960 and was at its lowest, 506,660, in 1990.

New Zealand ranks 137th of 215 countries on this measure, 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	815,680	612,437	892,376	10
1970s	529,299	519,121	549,612	10
1980s	519,923	509,599	527,234	10
1990s	534,544	506,660	550,126	10
2000s	578,199	551,421	607,018	10
2010s	691,979	615,128	804,942	10
2020s	833,864	820,454	852,066	6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

134 Libya 901,647 compare
135 Lithuania 893,162 compare
136 Israel 852,511 compare
138 Botswana 821,007 compare
139 Jordan 782,426 compare
140 Mauritius 758,222 compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More agriculture & rural data for New Zealand

Agricultural raw materials exports 9.3% (2025)
Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2025)
Rural population 16.0% (2025)
Rural population growth 0.3% (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.0% (2023)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 10.28 billion current US$ (2023)
Land under cereal production 121,170 hectares (2024)
Cereal yield 9,102 kg per hectare (2024)
Cereal production 1.10 million metric tons (2024)
Fertilizer consumption 1,291 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population in New Zealand?: Rural population in New Zealand was 852,066 in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
What is the highest rural population recorded in New Zealand?: The highest recorded value was 892,376 in 1960.
What is the lowest rural population recorded in New Zealand?: The lowest recorded value was 506,660 in 1990.
How does New Zealand rank for rural population?: New Zealand ranks 137th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
Is rural population rising or falling in New Zealand?: Over the last ten years it is up 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand 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

Indicator: Rural population
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 264 places, 17,394 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

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.