Urban population in OECD members
OECD members: Urban population was 1.14 billion in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population in OECD members, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
OECD members recorded 1.14 billion for urban population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 6.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in OECD members peaked at 1.14 billion in 2025 and was at its lowest, 498.73 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 | 551.15 million | 498.73 million | 603.68 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 662.38 million | 614.64 million | 705.48 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 755.06 million | 715.00 million | 796.24 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 853.58 million | 806.26 million | 899.24 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 959.42 million | 908.92 million | 1.01 billion | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.06 billion | 1.02 billion | 1.10 billion | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.12 billion | 1.11 billion | 1.14 billion | 6 |
More climate change data for OECD members
- Population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Population, total 1.40 billion (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.5% (2025)
- Urban population 81.3% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 38.1% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 1,013 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 7.9% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 17.0% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 21.1% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 24.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population in OECD members?
- Urban population in OECD members was 1.14 billion in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 1.14 billion in 2025.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 498.73 million in 1960.
- Is urban population rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this OECD members 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
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.