Democratic Republic of Congo vs Zambia: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Democratic Republic of Congo
45.1%
in 2025
Zambia
45.9%
in 2025
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
176th
Zambia rank
174th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Zambia
How they compare
Zambia 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 Zambia ahead.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 176th and Zambia ranks 174th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Democratic Republic of Congo averaged higher in 4 and Zambia in 36.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Democratic Republic of Congo | Zambia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Zambia |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Zambia |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Zambia |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Zambia |
| 1400s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Zambia |
| 1500s | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | Zambia |
| 1600s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | Zambia |
| 1700s | 0.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | Zambia |
| 1710s | 0.0% | 1.3% | 1.3% | Zambia |
| 1720s | 0.0% | 1.4% | 1.4% | Zambia |
| 1730s | 0.0% | 1.6% | 1.5% | Zambia |
| 1740s | 0.0% | 1.7% | 1.7% | Zambia |
| 1750s | 0.1% | 1.9% | 1.8% | Zambia |
| 1760s | 0.1% | 2.1% | 2.0% | Zambia |
| 1770s | 0.1% | 2.3% | 2.2% | Zambia |
| 1780s | 0.1% | 2.5% | 2.3% | Zambia |
| 1790s | 0.2% | 2.7% | 2.5% | Zambia |
| 1800s | 0.3% | 3.0% | 2.7% | Zambia |
| 1810s | 0.3% | 3.3% | 2.9% | Zambia |
| 1820s | 0.5% | 3.6% | 3.1% | Zambia |
| 1830s | 0.6% | 3.9% | 3.3% | Zambia |
| 1840s | 0.8% | 4.3% | 3.5% | Zambia |
| 1850s | 1.1% | 4.7% | 3.6% | Zambia |
| 1860s | 1.4% | 5.1% | 3.7% | Zambia |
| 1870s | 1.9% | 5.6% | 3.7% | Zambia |
| 1880s | 2.5% | 6.2% | 3.6% | Zambia |
| 1890s | 3.4% | 6.7% | 3.3% | Zambia |
| 1900s | 4.5% | 7.4% | 2.9% | Zambia |
| 1910s | 6.0% | 8.1% | 2.1% | Zambia |
| 1920s | 8.1% | 8.9% | 0.8% | Zambia |
| 1930s | 10.7% | 9.7% | 1.0% | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 1940s | 14.3% | 10.6% | 3.7% | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 1950s | 21.3% | 13.4% | 7.9% | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 1960s | 23.0% | 22.7% | 0.3% | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| 1970s | 25.2% | 35.8% | 10.6% | Zambia |
| 1980s | 28.3% | 39.7% | 11.4% | Zambia |
| 1990s | 32.3% | 38.2% | 5.9% | Zambia |
| 2000s | 37.1% | 37.3% | 0.2% | Zambia |
| 2010s | 41.1% | 41.7% | 0.6% | Zambia |
| 2020s | 44.2% | 44.9% | 0.7% | Zambia |
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 Zambia?
- Zambia, 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 Zambia?
- 0.8%, with Zambia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 176th and Zambia ranks 174th 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 modeled historical data.