Belgium vs Western Sahara: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Belgium
87.7%
in 2025
Western Sahara
86.9%
in 2025
Belgium rank
50th
Western Sahara rank
52nd
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Belgium
- Western Sahara
How they compare
Belgium 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 Belgium ahead.
Belgium ranks 50th and Western Sahara ranks 52nd of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 36 and Western Sahara in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | Western Sahara | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 3.0% | 0.0% | 3.0% | Belgium |
| 1100s | 9.9% | 0.0% | 9.9% | Belgium |
| 1200s | 12.5% | 0.0% | 12.5% | Belgium |
| 1300s | 15.0% | 0.0% | 15.0% | Belgium |
| 1400s | 26.2% | 0.0% | 26.2% | Belgium |
| 1500s | 29.6% | 0.0% | 29.6% | Belgium |
| 1600s | 29.3% | 0.0% | 29.3% | Belgium |
| 1700s | 30.6% | 0.1% | 30.5% | Belgium |
| 1710s | 28.9% | 0.1% | 28.8% | Belgium |
| 1720s | 27.2% | 0.2% | 27.1% | Belgium |
| 1730s | 25.6% | 0.2% | 25.3% | Belgium |
| 1740s | 23.9% | 0.3% | 23.6% | Belgium |
| 1750s | 22.2% | 0.4% | 21.8% | Belgium |
| 1760s | 22.1% | 0.4% | 21.7% | Belgium |
| 1770s | 22.0% | 0.6% | 21.4% | Belgium |
| 1780s | 21.9% | 0.7% | 21.2% | Belgium |
| 1790s | 21.8% | 0.9% | 20.9% | Belgium |
| 1800s | 21.7% | 1.1% | 20.6% | Belgium |
| 1810s | 26.3% | 1.4% | 25.0% | Belgium |
| 1820s | 31.0% | 1.7% | 29.3% | Belgium |
| 1830s | 35.6% | 2.1% | 33.5% | Belgium |
| 1840s | 40.3% | 2.7% | 37.6% | Belgium |
| 1850s | 44.9% | 3.3% | 41.6% | Belgium |
| 1860s | 49.6% | 4.2% | 45.4% | Belgium |
| 1870s | 54.2% | 5.2% | 49.0% | Belgium |
| 1880s | 58.9% | 6.5% | 52.4% | Belgium |
| 1890s | 63.5% | 8.1% | 55.4% | Belgium |
| 1900s | 68.1% | 10.2% | 58.0% | Belgium |
| 1910s | 72.8% | 12.7% | 60.1% | Belgium |
| 1920s | 77.4% | 15.9% | 61.6% | Belgium |
| 1930s | 82.1% | 19.8% | 62.2% | Belgium |
| 1940s | 86.7% | 24.8% | 61.9% | Belgium |
| 1950s | 64.1% | 31.1% | 33.0% | Belgium |
| 1960s | 67.9% | 34.0% | 33.8% | Belgium |
| 1970s | 72.5% | 54.9% | 17.6% | Belgium |
| 1980s | 76.5% | 82.0% | 5.5% | Western Sahara |
| 1990s | 80.1% | 85.4% | 5.3% | Western Sahara |
| 2000s | 83.4% | 86.1% | 2.7% | Western Sahara |
| 2010s | 86.1% | 86.5% | 0.4% | Western Sahara |
| 2020s | 87.5% | 86.8% | 0.7% | Belgium |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Belgium or Western Sahara?
- Belgium, 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 Belgium and Western Sahara?
- 0.8%, with Belgium ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Western Sahara?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Belgium and Western Sahara rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Belgium ranks 50th 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
Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modelled historical data.