Rural population in Yemen
Yemen: Rural population was 26.30 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Yemen, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Yemen stood at 26.30 million. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.6% on the previous year and up 24.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Yemen peaked at 26.30 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 5.34 million, in 1960.
That places Yemen 22nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.88 million | 5.34 million | 6.49 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 7.37 million | 6.64 million | 8.16 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 9.50 million | 8.36 million | 10.78 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 12.57 million | 11.09 million | 14.07 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 16.11 million | 14.40 million | 18.07 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.77 million | 18.56 million | 22.86 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.71 million | 23.23 million | 26.30 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Yemen
More agriculture & rural data for Yemen
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2019)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.6% (2019)
- Rural population 63.0% (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 28.7% (2018)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.21 billion current US$ (2018)
- Land under cereal production 543,000 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 801.1 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 435,000 metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 8.93 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Yemen?
- Rural population in Yemen was 26.30 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Yemen?
- The highest recorded value was 26.30 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Yemen?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.34 million in 1960.
- How does Yemen rank for rural population?
- Yemen ranks 22nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Yemen?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Yemen 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.