OECD members - Rural population

The value for Rural population in OECD members was 260,537,400 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 306,633,100 in 1962 and a minimum value of 260,537,400 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 306,362,100
1961 306,516,400
1962 306,633,100
1963 306,489,100
1964 306,226,700
1965 305,870,800
1966 305,256,200
1967 304,349,500
1968 303,345,800
1969 302,453,400
1970 301,574,100
1971 301,756,700
1972 301,783,400
1973 301,728,300
1974 301,581,200
1975 301,473,700
1976 301,784,100
1977 302,107,000
1978 302,370,600
1979 302,682,200
1980 302,916,400
1981 302,594,400
1982 302,300,400
1983 301,996,600
1984 301,639,600
1985 301,240,600
1986 300,777,800
1987 300,074,800
1988 299,381,500
1989 298,998,400
1990 298,513,600
1991 298,204,200
1992 298,022,700
1993 297,605,400
1994 296,914,900
1995 296,133,600
1996 295,524,900
1997 294,980,800
1998 294,328,300
1999 293,637,400
2000 292,884,700
2001 290,844,200
2002 288,116,500
2003 285,537,800
2004 283,079,400
2005 280,714,000
2006 278,694,500
2007 276,875,500
2008 275,199,000
2009 273,408,600
2010 271,516,600
2011 269,983,000
2012 269,103,800
2013 268,299,000
2014 267,549,700
2015 266,698,100
2016 265,814,200
2017 264,742,000
2018 263,524,400
2019 261,973,400
2020 260,537,400

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