Rural population in Portugal
Portugal: Rural population was 4.16 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Portugal, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in Portugal is 4.16 million, measured in 2025.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Portugal peaked at 6.16 million in 1962 and was at its lowest, 4.00 million, in 2018.
Portugal ranks 83rd of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.01 million | 5.72 million | 6.16 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 5.62 million | 5.45 million | 5.74 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.56 million | 5.29 million | 5.74 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.95 million | 4.73 million | 5.22 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.42 million | 4.14 million | 4.69 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.04 million | 4.00 million | 4.12 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.08 million | 4.01 million | 4.16 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More agriculture & rural data for Portugal
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.9% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.4% (2025)
- Rural population 38.5% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.0% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.79 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 191,630 hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 5,309 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 1.02 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 179.16 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Portugal?
- Rural population in Portugal was 4.16 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 6.16 million in 1962.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.00 million in 2018.
- How does Portugal rank for rural population?
- Portugal ranks 83rd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Portugal 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.