Afghanistan vs Ethiopia: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Afghanistan
25.9%
in 2025
Ethiopia
24.1%
in 2025
Afghanistan rank
222nd
Ethiopia rank
225th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Afghanistan
- Ethiopia
How they compare
Afghanistan currently reports 25.9% against 24.1% in Ethiopia, a difference of 1.8%.
That makes Afghanistan's figure about 1.1 times Ethiopia's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Ethiopia ahead.
Afghanistan ranks 222nd and Ethiopia ranks 225th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 17 and Ethiopia in 23.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Afghanistan | Ethiopia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1400s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1500s | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1600s | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1700s | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | Ethiopia |
| 1710s | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1720s | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1730s | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1740s | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1750s | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1760s | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1770s | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1780s | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1790s | 0.9% | 1.1% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1800s | 1.0% | 1.2% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1810s | 1.2% | 1.3% | 0.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1820s | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1830s | 1.5% | 1.6% | 0.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1840s | 1.7% | 1.7% | 0.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1850s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
| 1860s | 2.1% | 2.1% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1870s | 2.4% | 2.3% | 0.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1880s | 2.7% | 2.5% | 0.2% | Afghanistan |
| 1890s | 3.0% | 2.7% | 0.3% | Afghanistan |
| 1900s | 3.4% | 3.0% | 0.4% | Afghanistan |
| 1910s | 3.8% | 3.3% | 0.6% | Afghanistan |
| 1920s | 4.3% | 3.6% | 0.7% | Afghanistan |
| 1930s | 4.8% | 3.9% | 0.9% | Afghanistan |
| 1940s | 5.4% | 4.3% | 1.2% | Afghanistan |
| 1950s | 6.7% | 6.4% | 0.3% | Afghanistan |
| 1960s | 9.4% | 7.7% | 1.7% | Afghanistan |
| 1970s | 13.4% | 9.3% | 4.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1980s | 16.5% | 11.4% | 5.1% | Afghanistan |
| 1990s | 17.8% | 13.8% | 4.0% | Afghanistan |
| 2000s | 19.8% | 15.9% | 3.9% | Afghanistan |
| 2010s | 24.1% | 19.3% | 4.8% | Afghanistan |
| 2020s | 25.5% | 22.9% | 2.6% | Afghanistan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Afghanistan or Ethiopia?
- Afghanistan, at 25.9% against 24.1% in Ethiopia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Afghanistan and Ethiopia?
- 1.8%, with Afghanistan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and Ethiopia?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Afghanistan and Ethiopia rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Afghanistan ranks 222nd and Ethiopia ranks 225th of 238 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Do more people live in urban or rural areas?. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modelled historical data.