Esteban Ortiz-OspinaJuly 2026

A selection of charts from our new Urbanization page

We recently revamped our Urbanization topic page: these slides present a selection of data highlights from it.

3.5 billion people live in cities

Estimated number of people living in cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas.

In 2020, around 3.5 billion people lived in cities, another 2.8 billion in towns and suburbs, and around 1.6 billion in rural areas.
This means cities are home to 44% of the global population, with 36% in towns and suburbs, and 20% in rural areas.

Europe was already substantially urban in 1950

Share of people living in cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas.

Europe urbanized earlier than other regions.
By 1950, almost 30% of Europeans already lived in a city.
That share has continued growing, but not radically — today, it is close to 40%.

Africa started later, but is now close to Europe's level

Estimated number of people living in cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas.

Compared to Europe, Africa's move into cities came later, and happened faster: in 1950, only about 1 in 10 Africans lived in a city; today the share is close to 40%, roughly matching Europe.
This cuts against the common assumption that urbanization tracks closely with prosperity. We discuss this relationship in the topic page.

Nearly 1 in 2 Nigerians now live in a city

Estimated share of people living in cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas.

In recent decades, sub-Saharan Africa has been the world's fastest-urbanizing region.
Nigeria shows the scale of the change: in 1950, only around 1 in 10 Nigerians lived in a city. Today, it is nearly 1 in 2.
Historically, rapid urbanization was tied to industrialization; today, in many lower-income countries, it happens under different conditions.
We discuss this in more detail in the section on urbanization and development.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, a large share of the growing urban population lives in slums

Share of urban population living in slums, 2024 data. Slum housing lacks one or more of the following: access to improved water and sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure.

For millions worldwide, moving to a city has meant living without secure housing or reliable access to clean water and sanitation.
The share of urban residents living in slum households is particularly high across sub-Saharan Africa.

The fastest-growing megacities will be predominantly African

Estimated number of people living in cities ranked among the top 100 most populous in 2020. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.

Megacities in East Asia and Latin America are nearing their peak; Shanghai and São Paulo, for example, are both expected to peak before 2050.
In Africa and South Asia, by contrast, many cities are projected to keep growing to the end of the century.
By 2100, just 24 of today's 100 largest cities would still be growing: 12 African, 5 South Asian.
We show here some examples, but you can explore the projections for other cities in our interactive chart.

A new, consistent way of measuring urbanization

This new data is from the European Commission and the UN.
Instead of national definitions, which vary from country to country, it uses consistent definitions of cities based on satellite imagery.
You can explore all this in our updated page: OurWorldinData.org/urbanization