Rural population in Vanuatu
Vanuatu: Rural population was 260,353 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Vanuatu, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Vanuatu recorded 260,353 for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.2% on the previous year and up 30.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Vanuatu peaked at 260,353 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 59,292, in 1960.
Vanuatu ranks 158th 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 | 66,736 | 59,292 | 74,806 | 10 |
| 1970s | 86,496 | 76,746 | 96,799 | 10 |
| 1980s | 107,617 | 98,579 | 117,772 | 10 |
| 1990s | 131,868 | 120,277 | 143,148 | 10 |
| 2000s | 160,785 | 145,938 | 176,210 | 10 |
| 2010s | 198,965 | 179,299 | 223,361 | 10 |
| 2020s | 246,200 | 231,858 | 260,353 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Vanuatu
More agriculture & rural data for Vanuatu
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.8% (2011)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2011)
- Rural population 77.7% (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.2% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 26.6% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 345.61 million current US$ (2024)
- Land under cereal production 1,549 hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 636.2 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 985.44 metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 77.35 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Vanuatu?
- Rural population in Vanuatu was 260,353 in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Vanuatu?
- The highest recorded value was 260,353 in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Vanuatu?
- The lowest recorded value was 59,292 in 1960.
- How does Vanuatu rank for rural population?
- Vanuatu ranks 158th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Vanuatu?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Vanuatu 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.