Which countries have the most urban populations?

Full country ranking

Value: % of population in urban areas. The table is shown in its published rank order. Rank always refers to the published highest-first order; exact source ties share a rank.

What the data means

42 covered countries have at least 80% of residents in urban areas. Urban definitions are nationally determined; a high urban share does not establish density, transport access or a particular style of housing. Countries at the same source value share a rank.

Methodology, source and licence

One common observation year (2024) across all entries. Starting at 2024, choose the newest common year with at least 10 existing country guides and at least 70% of world population represented. Regional aggregates and places without an existing country guide or same-year population are excluded; missing observations are never estimated. Rates, percentages and values already expressed per person are not divided by population again. Exact source ties share a rank; country names break ties in display order. The 2026 label is the publication edition, not the observation year.

Source definition: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division.

Original providers: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wup/, note: United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects, National definitions, publisher: UN Population Division

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators — SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-18. GooferPlaces selected eligible countries, sorted observations, rounded display values and, where stated, calculated population-normalised values. The source organisations do not endorse these rankings.

Download the observations and methodology (JSON). The dated source snapshot is retained as data/rankings/world-bank-wdi/2026-10-18.json. The country universe comprises the 197 existing country guides; territories without a guide and regional aggregates are excluded. Population coverage uses the World Bank world aggregate for the observation year, including places not listed in the table.

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