Australia vs Western Sahara: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?

Australia
87.7%
in 2025
Western Sahara
86.9%
in 2025
Australia rank
49th
Western Sahara rank
52nd

Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time

  • Australia
  • Western Sahara
020406080100015122025

How they compare

Australia currently reports 87.7% against 86.9% in Western Sahara, a difference of 0.8%.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Australia ahead.

Australia ranks 49th and Western Sahara ranks 52nd of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 38 and Western Sahara in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade Australia Western Sahara Difference Ahead
1000s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Australia
1100s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Australia
1200s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Australia
1300s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Australia
1400s 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% Australia
1500s 0.2% 0.0% 0.2% Australia
1600s 0.5% 0.0% 0.5% Australia
1700s 1.6% 0.1% 1.5% Australia
1710s 1.9% 0.1% 1.8% Australia
1720s 2.2% 0.2% 2.1% Australia
1730s 2.6% 0.2% 2.4% Australia
1740s 3.0% 0.3% 2.8% Australia
1750s 3.5% 0.4% 3.2% Australia
1760s 4.1% 0.4% 3.7% Australia
1770s 4.8% 0.6% 4.3% Australia
1780s 5.6% 0.7% 4.9% Australia
1790s 6.6% 0.9% 5.7% Australia
1800s 7.7% 1.1% 6.6% Australia
1810s 8.9% 1.4% 7.6% Australia
1820s 10.4% 1.7% 8.7% Australia
1830s 12.2% 2.1% 10.0% Australia
1840s 14.2% 2.7% 11.5% Australia
1850s 16.6% 3.3% 13.2% Australia
1860s 19.3% 4.2% 15.2% Australia
1870s 22.5% 5.2% 17.3% Australia
1880s 26.3% 6.5% 19.8% Australia
1890s 30.7% 8.1% 22.6% Australia
1900s 35.8% 10.2% 25.7% Australia
1910s 41.8% 12.7% 29.1% Australia
1920s 48.7% 15.9% 32.9% Australia
1930s 56.9% 19.8% 37.0% Australia
1940s 66.3% 24.8% 41.5% Australia
1950s 78.8% 31.1% 47.7% Australia
1960s 83.0% 34.0% 48.9% Australia
1970s 85.8% 54.9% 30.9% Australia
1980s 85.5% 82.0% 3.5% Australia
1990s 85.3% 85.4% 0.1% Western Sahara
2000s 85.6% 86.1% 0.5% Western Sahara
2010s 86.8% 86.5% 0.3% Australia
2020s 87.4% 86.8% 0.7% Australia

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Australia or Western Sahara?
Australia, at 87.7% against 86.9% in Western Sahara as of 2025.
What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Australia and Western Sahara?
0.8%, with Australia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Western Sahara?
108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Australia and Western Sahara rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
Australia ranks 49th and Western Sahara ranks 52nd 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

Indicator
Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Unit
%
Source
HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 24,444 data points, 1000–2025
Last refreshed

Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modelled historical data.