Global Urban Population Share by Year, 1960-2024
About This Dataset
Global Urban Population Share by Year, 1960-2024The world was 34.2 percent urban in 1960 and 57.6 percent urban in 2024, a gain of 23.4 percentage points. The threshold that matters is 2007: that is the first year the majority of people on earth lived in urban areas, at 50.4 percent, up from 49.9 percent the year before. The pace has accelerated rather than held steady: the world added 2.2 points in the 1960s, 3.3 in the 1980s and 5.0 in the 2000s, before easing to 4.6 in the 2010s. That gradual climb is why the crossing point passed with so little fanfare.
Key Findings
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Global Urban Population Share by Year, 1960-2024
Data Insights
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Rankings & Full Data
11 records · Global Urban Population (% of total) · ranked by 2024
Data Sources & References
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