Papua New Guinea vs Timor-Leste: Share of population living in urban and rural areas
Papua New Guinea
46.3%
in 2020
Timor-Leste
49.4%
in 2020
Papua New Guinea rank
212th
Timor-Leste rank
210th
Share of population living in urban and rural areas over time
- Papua New Guinea
- Timor-Leste
How they compare
Timor-Leste currently reports 49.4% against 46.3% in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 3.1%.
That makes Timor-Leste's figure about 1.1 times Papua New Guinea's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Timor-Leste has been ahead every year.
Papua New Guinea ranks 212th and Timor-Leste ranks 210th of 236 countries.
Timor-Leste has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Papua New Guinea | Timor-Leste | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 9.9% | 11.7% | 1.8% | Timor-Leste |
| 1960s | 12.8% | 14.4% | 1.6% | Timor-Leste |
| 1970s | 16.1% | 18.1% | 2.0% | Timor-Leste |
| 1980s | 19.5% | 23.7% | 4.2% | Timor-Leste |
| 1990s | 24.4% | 30.2% | 5.8% | Timor-Leste |
| 2000s | 30.2% | 30.9% | 0.7% | Timor-Leste |
| 2010s | 39.4% | 41.2% | 1.8% | Timor-Leste |
| 2020s | 46.3% | 49.4% | 3.1% | Timor-Leste |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of population living in urban and rural areas, Papua New Guinea or Timor-Leste?
- Timor-Leste, at 49.4% against 46.3% in Papua New Guinea as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of population living in urban and rural areas between Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste?
- 3.1%, with Timor-Leste ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste rank globally for share of population living in urban and rural areas?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 212th and Timor-Leste ranks 210th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of population living in urban and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.