What is the total urban population in the world?
According to World Bank 2017 estimates, urban population represents 55 percent of the total world population.
The Industrial Revolution came into existence in 18th century, and with it human and machine labor.
Ever since the Industrial Revolutions beginning, there has been a fundamental change in the methods of production. There was a shift from the agrarian economy to a more capitalist economy, and people started migrating from rural pockets to cities and townships.
This rural-urban migration is ongoing process and is known as urbanization. As the population in the urban areas swell, there is a holistic development in the cities to cater to the needs of the people. This brings about an economic, cultural, social, and political transformation.
City populations are swelling due to the disparity between the urban and the rural living styles. In cities, one can find:
- Better infrastructure
- Better income
- Better education
- Better health facilities
The factors that attract people to settle in urban areas are called the pull factor. As the words suggests, the ‘pull factor’ is the attraction that induces people to migrate to a new place. People consider the movement healthy because of lifestyle upgrade as a result of the political, economic, and cultural policies in the new place. The pull factor does not operate in isolation, it is supported by the push factor. The push factor of a place includes lack of sustainable opportunities and lack of economic security.
People are moving away from the rural areas because of:
- Poor living conditions
- Lack of resources; educational, health, etc.
- Lack of proper planning policies
- Lack of implementation of policies
- Inconsistent source of employment (seasonal unemployment)
- Dwindling income from farming activities
The population division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) provides the data on world population. It is an authentic source that has been monitoring the patterns of population- change, rise, and fall, for more than a decade. The World Bank report is based on the data provided by UN DESA.
Here is a table that reflects the urban population percentage over the years. On analyzing the trends from 1960 to 2017, one would infer that with the rapid globalization, the urban population is rising at an alarming rate.
| Country Name | 2017(%) |
| Bermuda | 100 |
| Cayman Islands | 100 |
| Gibraltar | 100 |
| Hong Kong | 100 |
| Macao | 100 |
| Monaco | 100 |
| Nauru | 100 |
| Singapore | 100 |
| Sint Maarten | 100 |
| Qatar | 99.381 |
| Kuwait | 98.374 |
| Belgium | 97.934 |
| Malta | 95.644 |
| Uruguay | 95.601 |
| United States Virgin Islands | 95.576 |
| Guam | 94.667 |
| Iceland | 94.319 |
| Japan | 94.316 |
| San Marino | 94.244 |
| Puerto Rico | 93.543 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 92.795 |
| Israel | 92.27 |
| Argentina | 92.03 |
| Netherlands | 91.524 |
| Luxembourg | 90.689 |
| Chile | 89.857 |
| Australia | 89.683 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 89.187 |
| Curacao | 89.159 |
| Venezuela | 89.098 |
| Bahrain | 88.899 |
| Palau | 88.151 |
| Lebanon | 88.037 |
| Denmark | 88.015 |
| Gabon | 87.55 |
| Greenland | 87.16 |
| American Samoa | 87.103 |
| New Zealand | 86.365 |
| Brazil | 86.172 |
| Sweden | 86.112 |
| United Arab Emirates | 86.058 |
| Finland | 84.495 |
| Andorra | 84.127 |
| Jordan | 84.127 |
| Saudi Arabia | 83.53 |
| United Kingdom | 83.073 |
| Bahamas | 83.031 |
| Korea, South | 82.712 |
| Canada | 82.183 |
| United States of America | 81.96 |
| Norway | 80.99 |
| Dominican Republic | 80.647 |
| Spain | 80.024 |
| France | 79.978 |
| Mexico | 79.784 |
| Peru | 79.233 |
| Libya | 78.961 |
| Greece | 78.644 |
| Oman | 78.519 |
| Costa Rica | 78.479 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 77.797 |
| Djibouti | 77.523 |
| Belarus | 77.416 |
| Cuba | 77.3 |
| Colombia | 76.978 |
| Malaysia | 76.006 |
| Germany | 75.721 |
| Palestine | 75.71 |
| Bulgaria | 74.581 |
| Iran | 74.368 |
| Turkey | 74.363 |
| Russia | 74.203 |
| Switzerland | 74.077 |
| Mongolia | 73.57 |
| Marshall Islands | 73.192 |
| Czech Republic | 72.983 |
| Hungary | 72.108 |
| Algeria | 71.861 |
| New Caledonia | 71.246 |
| Ukraine | 70.14 |
| Dominica | 70.098 |
| Iraq | 69.723 |
| Bolivia | 69.303 |
| Italy | 69.277 |
| El Salvador | 67.643 |
| Estonia | 67.415 |
| Latvia | 67.357 |
| Tunisia | 67.259 |
| Panama | 67.2 |
| Cabo Verde | 66.823 |
| Cyprus | 66.774 |
| Lithuania | 66.533 |
| Republic of the Congo | 66.212 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 66.174 |
| Austria | 66.11 |
| Suriname | 66 |
| South Africa | 65.782 |
| Portugal | 64.556 |
| Montenegro | 64.424 |
| Ecuador | 64.216 |
| Ireland | 63.834 |
| Armenia | 62.467 |
| Tuvalu | 61.489 |
| Korea, North | 61.235 |
| Morocco | 61.172 |
| Mauritania | 61.017 |
| Haiti | 60.883 |
| Gambia, The | 60.79 |
| Poland | 60.545 |
| Paraguay | 60.19 |
| Croatia | 59.613 |
| Nicaragua | 59.441 |
| Albania | 59.316 |
| Syria | 58.467 |
| Botswana | 57.984 |
| China | 57.903 |
| Macedonia | 57.329 |
| Honduras | 55.893 |
| Serbia | 55.799 |
| French Polynesia | 55.741 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 55.545 |
| Cameroon | 55.489 |
| Ghana | 55.313 |
| Jamaica | 55.283 |
| Azerbaijan | 55.181 |
| Indonesia | 55.177 |
| Romania | 54.947 |
| Seychelles | 54.541 |
| Fiji | 54.468 |
| Georgia | 54.025 |
| Slovakia | 53.368 |
| Kazakhstan | 53.239 |
| Thailand | 52.671 |
| Guatemala | 52.492 |
| Isle of Man | 52.371 |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 51.247 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 50.834 |
| Turkmenistan | 50.766 |
| Liberia | 50.505 |
| Slovenia | 49.628 |
| Nigeria | 49.403 |
| Namibia | 48.571 |
| Maldives | 47.505 |
| British Virgin Islands | 46.82 |
| Angola | 45.578 |
| Moldova | 45.208 |
| Benin | 44.847 |
| Kiribati | 44.603 |
| Senegal | 44.424 |
| Philippines | 44.235 |
| Belize | 43.742 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 43.537 |
| Egypt | 43.33 |
| Faroe Islands | 42.417 |
| Zambia | 41.84 |
| Mali | 41.441 |
| Aruba | 41.107 |
| Togo | 40.965 |
| Sierra Leone | 40.707 |
| Laos | 40.669 |
| Central African Republic | 40.646 |
| Somalia | 40.517 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 40.296 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 40.135 |
| Bhutan | 40.095 |
| Pakistan | 39.7 |
| Mauritius | 39.447 |
| Guinea | 38.15 |
| Uzbekistan | 36.62 |
| Madagascar | 36.376 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 36.014 |
| Bangladesh | 35.79 |
| Yemen | 35.769 |
| Grenada | 35.656 |
| Myanmar | 35.206 |
| Vietnam | 34.879 |
| Sudan | 34.227 |
| Timor-Leste | 34.022 |
| India | 33.535 |
| Tanzania | 33.023 |
| Mozambique | 32.816 |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 32.279 |
| Zimbabwe | 32.207 |
| Channel Islands | 31.698 |
| Burkina Faso | 31.511 |
| Barbados | 31.374 |
| Rwanda | 30.731 |
| Guyana | 28.784 |
| Comoros | 28.541 |
| Lesotho | 28.372 |
| Afghanistan | 27.57 |
| Tajikistan | 27.018 |
| Vanuatu | 26.754 |
| Kenya | 26.494 |
| Tonga | 23.898 |
| Solomon Islands | 23.226 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 23.047 |
| Chad | 22.782 |
| Federated States of Micronesia | 22.548 |
| Swaziland | 21.337 |
| Cambodia | 21.18 |
| Ethiopia | 20.379 |
| Nepal | 19.383 |
| Niger | 19.303 |
| South Sudan | 19.268 |
| Samoa | 18.83 |
| St. Lucia | 18.586 |
| Sri Lanka | 18.475 |
| Uganda | 16.794 |
| Malawi | 16.648 |
| Liechtenstein | 14.286 |
| Papua New Guinea | 13.085 |
| Burundi | 12.667 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 8.27 |
| Eritrea | NA |
| Kosovo | NA |
| St. Martin (French part) | NA |
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