Ecuador vs Ethiopia: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents

Ecuador
5.47 million people
in 2020
Ethiopia
5.91 million people
in 2020
Ecuador rank
51st
Ethiopia rank
48th

Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time

  • Ecuador
  • Ethiopia
02.0M4.0M6.0M195019852020

How they compare

Ethiopia currently reports 5.91 million people against 5.47 million people in Ecuador, a difference of 440,600 people.

That makes Ethiopia's figure about 1.1 times Ecuador's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Ethiopia ahead.

Ecuador ranks 51st and Ethiopia ranks 48th of 182 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Ecuador averaged higher in 4 and Ethiopia in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Ecuador Ethiopia Difference Ahead
1950s 0 people 0 people 0 people
1960s 0 people 0 people 0 people
1970s 0 people 0 people 0 people
1980s 1.79 million people 1.36 million people 431,215 people Ecuador
1990s 3.12 million people 2.20 million people 916,360 people Ecuador
2000s 3.99 million people 2.93 million people 1.06 million people Ecuador
2010s 4.79 million people 4.13 million people 657,490 people Ecuador
2020s 5.47 million people 5.91 million people 440,600 people Ethiopia

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents, Ecuador or Ethiopia?
Ethiopia, at 5.91 million people against 5.47 million people in Ecuador as of 2020.
What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Ecuador and Ethiopia?
440,600 people, with Ethiopia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Ecuador and Ethiopia?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Ecuador and Ethiopia rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
Ecuador ranks 51st and Ethiopia ranks 48th of 182 countries.
Where does this data come from?
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Unit
people
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
182 places, 2,532 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.