Democratic Republic of Congo vs Sierra Leone: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?

Democratic Republic of Congo
45.1%
in 2025
Sierra Leone
45.9%
in 2025
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
176th
Sierra Leone rank
173rd

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

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Sierra Leone
01020304050100015122025

How they compare

Sierra Leone currently reports 45.9% against 45.1% in Democratic Republic of Congo, a difference of 0.8%.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Sierra Leone ahead.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 176th and Sierra Leone ranks 173rd of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Democratic Republic of Congo averaged higher in 6 and Sierra Leone in 34.

Head to head by decade

Decade Democratic Republic of Congo Sierra Leone Difference Ahead
1000s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Sierra Leone
1100s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Sierra Leone
1200s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Sierra Leone
1300s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Sierra Leone
1400s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Sierra Leone
1500s 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Sierra Leone
1600s 0.0% 0.4% 0.4% Sierra Leone
1700s 0.0% 1.2% 1.2% Sierra Leone
1710s 0.0% 1.4% 1.3% Sierra Leone
1720s 0.0% 1.5% 1.5% Sierra Leone
1730s 0.0% 1.6% 1.6% Sierra Leone
1740s 0.0% 1.8% 1.7% Sierra Leone
1750s 0.1% 2.0% 1.9% Sierra Leone
1760s 0.1% 2.1% 2.1% Sierra Leone
1770s 0.1% 2.3% 2.2% Sierra Leone
1780s 0.1% 2.6% 2.4% Sierra Leone
1790s 0.2% 2.8% 2.6% Sierra Leone
1800s 0.3% 3.1% 2.8% Sierra Leone
1810s 0.3% 3.4% 3.0% Sierra Leone
1820s 0.5% 3.7% 3.2% Sierra Leone
1830s 0.6% 4.0% 3.4% Sierra Leone
1840s 0.8% 4.4% 3.6% Sierra Leone
1850s 1.1% 4.8% 3.8% Sierra Leone
1860s 1.4% 5.3% 3.9% Sierra Leone
1870s 1.9% 5.8% 3.9% Sierra Leone
1880s 2.5% 6.4% 3.8% Sierra Leone
1890s 3.4% 7.0% 3.6% Sierra Leone
1900s 4.5% 7.6% 3.1% Sierra Leone
1910s 6.0% 8.4% 2.3% Sierra Leone
1920s 8.1% 9.2% 1.1% Sierra Leone
1930s 10.7% 10.0% 0.7% Democratic Republic of Congo
1940s 14.3% 11.0% 3.3% Democratic Republic of Congo
1950s 21.3% 14.6% 6.6% Democratic Republic of Congo
1960s 23.0% 20.2% 2.7% Democratic Republic of Congo
1970s 25.2% 27.3% 2.1% Sierra Leone
1980s 28.3% 31.8% 3.5% Sierra Leone
1990s 32.3% 34.4% 2.1% Sierra Leone
2000s 37.1% 36.8% 0.3% Democratic Republic of Congo
2010s 41.1% 40.6% 0.5% Democratic Republic of Congo
2020s 44.2% 44.6% 0.4% Sierra Leone

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Democratic Republic of Congo or Sierra Leone?
Sierra Leone, at 45.9% against 45.1% in Democratic Republic of Congo as of 2025.
What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone?
0.8%, with Sierra Leone ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone?
108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 176th and Sierra Leone ranks 173rd 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.

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Democratic Republic of Congo vs Sierra Leone: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?. Statizoid, drawing on HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/urban-vs-rural-majority/congo-dem-rep/sierra-leone/

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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 modeled historical data.