Urban population share in OECD members
81.3% of people in OECD member countries lived in urban areas in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1960.
OECD members is a group: OECD member countries as grouped by the World Bank. The value is the aggregate published by World Bank, not an average calculated on this site.
OECD members, 2025
81.3%
Change from 2024
+0.1percentage points
World, 2025
57.8%
Urban population share in OECD members over time
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OECD members
World
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The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
% of total population. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | OECD members | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 81.3% | 57.8% |
| 2024 | 81.2% | 57.6% |
| 2023 | 81.1% | 57.3% |
| 2022 | 80.9% | 57.1% |
| 2021 | 80.9% | 56.8% |
| 2020 | 80.7% | 56.4% |
| 2019 | 80.7% | 56.1% |
| 2018 | 80.5% | 55.8% |
| 2017 | 80.5% | 55.3% |
| 2016 | 80.4% | 54.9% |
| 2015 | 80.2% | 54.4% |
| 2014 | 79.9% | 53.9% |
| 2013 | 79.5% | 53.4% |
| 2012 | 79.2% | 52.9% |
| 2011 | 78.9% | 52.5% |
| 2010 | 78.8% | 51.8% |
| 2009 | 78.5% | 51.4% |
| 2008 | 78.3% | 50.9% |
| 2007 | 78.1% | 50.4% |
| 2006 | 77.8% | 49.9% |
| 2005 | 77.5% | 49.4% |
| 2004 | 77.1% | 48.9% |
| 2003 | 76.7% | 48.4% |
| 2002 | 76.3% | 47.8% |
| 2001 | 75.9% | 47.3% |
A dash means no value was published for that period.
In short
- That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 81.2% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 80.2%, the figure has changed by +1.1 percentage points.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 57.8%.
More for OECD members
All statistics for OECD members
Population
1,402,243,571 people
2025 · World Bank
Population growth
0.39%
2025 · World Bank
Population aged 65 and over
19.0%
2025 · World Bank
Population aged 0 to 14
16.4%
2025 · World Bank
Fertility rate
1.48 births per woman
2024 · World Bank
Crude birth rate
9.7 per 1,000 people
2024 · World Bank