Rural population in South Asia (IDA & IBRD)
South Asia (IDA & IBRD): Rural population was 1.09 billion in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in South Asia (IDA & IBRD), 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
South Asia (IDA & IBRD) recorded 1.09 billion for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in South Asia (IDA & IBRD) peaked at 1.09 billion in 2025 and was at its lowest, 425.05 million, in 1960.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 469.69 million | 425.05 million | 513.92 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 569.09 million | 524.11 million | 614.83 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 686.08 million | 626.30 million | 748.66 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 826.33 million | 762.88 million | 889.24 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 950.84 million | 902.64 million | 990.05 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.03 billion | 997.55 million | 1.06 billion | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.08 billion | 1.07 billion | 1.09 billion | 6 |
More agriculture & rural data for South Asia (IDA & IBRD)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2024)
- Rural population 64.2% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 15.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 714.12 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 119.96 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,814 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 457.55 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 206.42 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?
- Rural population in South Asia (IDA & IBRD) was 1.09 billion in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?
- The highest recorded value was 1.09 billion in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?
- The lowest recorded value was 425.05 million in 1960.
- Is rural population rising or falling in South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 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.