What is urban population in Ethiopia?

Urban population in Ethiopia was 32.66 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).

What is the highest urban population recorded in Ethiopia?

The highest recorded value was 32.66 million in 2025.

What is the lowest urban population recorded in Ethiopia?

The lowest recorded value was 1.52 million in 1960.

How does Ethiopia rank for urban population?

Ethiopia ranks 31st out of 215 countries with data for 2025.

Is urban population rising or falling in Ethiopia?

Over the last ten years it is up 61.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this Ethiopia data come from?

The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Urban population in Ethiopia

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

Ethiopia: Urban population was 32.66 million in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

32.66 million

Change on year

up 4.7%

World rank

31st

of 215 countries

All-time high

32.66 million

in 2025

All-time low

1.52 million

in 1960

Years of data

1960–2025

Urban population in Ethiopia, 1960–2025

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

Analysis

Ethiopia recorded 32.66 million for urban population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.7% on the previous year and up 61.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, urban population in Ethiopia peaked at 32.66 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1.52 million, in 1960.

Ethiopia ranks 31st of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	1.87 million	1.52 million	2.28 million	10
1970s	2.93 million	2.38 million	3.48 million	10
1980s	4.53 million	3.57 million	5.73 million	10
1990s	7.83 million	6.08 million	9.62 million	10
2000s	12.35 million	10.06 million	15.09 million	10
2010s	19.92 million	15.84 million	24.59 million	10
2020s	29.13 million	25.72 million	32.66 million	6

Countries ranked near Ethiopia

28 Algeria 35.96 million compare
29 Canada 34.52 million compare
30 Iraq 32.89 million compare
32 Saudi Arabia 31.28 million compare
33 Peru 29.60 million compare
34 Angola 27.90 million compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More climate change data for Ethiopia

Population growth 2.6% (2025)
Population, total 135.47 million (2025)
Urban population growth 4.6% (2025)
Urban population 24.1% (2025)
Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 4.4% (2025)
Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 10.55 billion cubic meters (2022)
Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 8.6% (2022)
Terrestrial protected areas 17.0% (2025)
Terrestrial and marine protected areas 17.0% (2025)
CPIA public sector management and institutions cluster average 3.1 1=low to 6=high (2025)

All data for Ethiopia →

Frequently asked questions

What is urban population in Ethiopia?: Urban population in Ethiopia was 32.66 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
What is the highest urban population recorded in Ethiopia?: The highest recorded value was 32.66 million in 2025.
What is the lowest urban population recorded in Ethiopia?: The lowest recorded value was 1.52 million in 1960.
How does Ethiopia rank for urban population?: Ethiopia ranks 31st out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
Is urban population rising or falling in Ethiopia?: Over the last ten years it is up 61.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Ethiopia data come from?: The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban 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: Urban 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

Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.