European Union - Rural population

The value for Rural population in European Union was 112,053,100 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 147,482,000 in 1960 and a minimum value of 112,053,100 in 2020.

Definition: Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.

See also:

Year Value
1960 147,482,000
1961 146,816,700
1962 146,174,400
1963 145,361,300
1964 144,520,300
1965 143,571,400
1966 142,579,600
1967 141,631,000
1968 140,712,400
1969 139,938,100
1970 138,983,600
1971 137,999,500
1972 137,319,700
1973 136,665,700
1974 136,003,800
1975 135,474,700
1976 134,975,600
1977 134,318,700
1978 133,577,700
1979 132,850,900
1980 132,191,000
1981 131,620,700
1982 131,243,300
1983 130,914,800
1984 130,666,200
1985 130,469,100
1986 130,206,400
1987 129,719,400
1988 129,284,300
1989 129,077,700
1990 128,796,800
1991 128,378,400
1992 128,090,400
1993 127,956,800
1994 127,678,900
1995 127,320,200
1996 126,930,000
1997 126,544,800
1998 126,150,600
1999 125,772,700
2000 125,253,600
2001 124,617,200
2002 123,920,000
2003 123,399,600
2004 122,915,400
2005 122,398,800
2006 121,849,700
2007 121,296,100
2008 120,724,000
2009 120,091,000
2010 119,335,900
2011 118,261,000
2012 117,601,600
2013 117,080,000
2014 116,581,500
2015 115,989,500
2016 115,358,700
2017 114,636,400
2018 113,888,700
2019 112,974,000
2020 112,053,100

Development Relevance: The rural population is calculated using the urban share reported by the United Nations Population Division. There is no universal standard for distinguishing rural from urban areas, and any urban-rural dichotomy is an oversimplification. The two distinct images - isolated farm, thriving metropolis - represent poles on a continuum. Life changes along a variety of dimensions, moving from the most remote forest outpost through fields and pastures, past tiny hamlets, through small towns with weekly farm markets, into intensively cultivated areas near large towns and small cities, eventually reaching the center of a megacity. Along the way access to infrastructure, social services, and nonfarm employment increase, and with them population density and income. A 2005 World Bank Policy Research Paper proposes an operational definition of rurality based on population density and distance to large cities (Chomitz, Buys, and Thomas 2005). The report argues that these criteria are important gradients along which economic behavior and appropriate development interventions vary substantially. Where population densities are low, markets of all kinds are thin, and the unit cost of delivering most social services and many types of infrastructure is high. Where large urban areas are distant, farm-gate or factory-gate prices of outputs will be low and input prices will be high, and it will be difficult to recruit skilled people to public service or private enterprises. Thus, low population density and remoteness together define a set of rural areas that face special development challenges. Countries differ in the way they classify population as "urban" or "rural." Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements. Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, the distinction between urban and rural population is not amenable to a single definition that would be applicable to all countries. Rural population methodology is defined by various national statistical offices. In the United States, for example, the US Census Bureau's urban-rural classification is fundamentally a delineation of geographical areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas of the nation. "Rural" encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.

Limitations and Exceptions: Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries. Estimates of the world's urban population would change significantly if China, India, and a few other populous nations were to change their definition of urban centers. Because the estimates of city and metropolitan area are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution. To estimate urban populations, UN ratios of urban to total population were applied to the World Bank's estimates of total population.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Rural population is calculated as the difference between the total population and the urban population. Rural population is approximated as the midyear nonurban population. While a practical means of identifying the rural population, it is not a precise measure. The United Nations Population Division and other agencies provide current population estimates for developing countries that lack recent census data and pre- and post-census estimates for countries with census data.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Density & urbanization