Rural population (% of total population) - Country Ranking - Asia

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.

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

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Sri Lanka 81.29 2020
2 Nepal 79.42 2020
3 Cambodia 75.77 2020
4 Afghanistan 73.97 2020
5 Tajikistan 72.49 2020
6 Myanmar 68.86 2020
7 Timor-Leste 68.68 2020
8 India 65.07 2020
9 Lao PDR 63.71 2020
10 Kyrgyz Republic 63.14 2020
11 Pakistan 62.84 2020
12 Vietnam 62.66 2020
13 Yemen 62.09 2020
14 Bangladesh 61.82 2020
15 Bhutan 57.68 2020
16 Philippines 52.59 2020
17 Uzbekistan 49.58 2020
18 Thailand 48.57 2020
19 Turkmenistan 47.48 2020
20 Syrian Arab Republic 44.53 2020
21 Azerbaijan 43.60 2020
22 Indonesia 43.36 2020
23 Kazakhstan 42.33 2020
24 Georgia 40.55 2020
25 China 38.57 2020
26 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 37.62 2020
27 Armenia 36.69 2020
28 Mongolia 31.34 2020
29 Iraq 29.11 2020
30 Russia 25.25 2020
31 Iran 24.13 2020
32 Turkey 23.90 2020
33 Malaysia 22.84 2020
34 Brunei 21.75 2020
35 Korea 18.59 2020
36 Saudi Arabia 15.71 2020
37 Oman 13.72 2020
38 United Arab Emirates 12.95 2020
39 Lebanon 11.08 2020
40 Bahrain 10.49 2020
41 Jordan 8.58 2020
42 Japan 8.22 2020
43 Israel 7.41 2020
44 Qatar 0.77 2020
45 Macao SAR, China 0.00 2020
45 Kuwait 0.00 2020
45 Hong Kong SAR, China 0.00 2020
45 Singapore 0.00 2020

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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: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual