Germany vs South Korea: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Germany
82.1%
in 2025
South Korea
81.2%
in 2025
Germany rank
62nd
South Korea rank
65th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Germany
- South Korea
How they compare
Germany currently reports 82.1% against 81.2% in South Korea, a difference of 0.9%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Germany ahead.
Germany ranks 62nd and South Korea ranks 65th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Germany averaged higher in 38 and South Korea in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | South Korea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 2.2% | 0.0% | 2.2% | Germany |
| 1100s | 3.3% | 0.0% | 3.3% | Germany |
| 1200s | 4.9% | 0.0% | 4.9% | Germany |
| 1300s | 7.4% | 0.0% | 7.4% | Germany |
| 1400s | 11.1% | 0.1% | 11.0% | Germany |
| 1500s | 8.2% | 0.2% | 8.0% | Germany |
| 1600s | 8.5% | 0.7% | 7.8% | Germany |
| 1700s | 7.7% | 2.1% | 5.6% | Germany |
| 1710s | 8.1% | 2.4% | 5.7% | Germany |
| 1720s | 8.5% | 2.6% | 5.9% | Germany |
| 1730s | 8.9% | 2.9% | 6.0% | Germany |
| 1740s | 9.4% | 3.2% | 6.2% | Germany |
| 1750s | 9.8% | 3.5% | 6.4% | Germany |
| 1760s | 10.3% | 3.8% | 6.5% | Germany |
| 1770s | 10.8% | 4.2% | 6.7% | Germany |
| 1780s | 11.4% | 4.5% | 6.8% | Germany |
| 1790s | 11.9% | 5.0% | 7.0% | Germany |
| 1800s | 12.5% | 5.5% | 7.1% | Germany |
| 1810s | 13.2% | 6.0% | 7.2% | Germany |
| 1820s | 13.4% | 6.5% | 6.9% | Germany |
| 1830s | 13.7% | 7.2% | 6.5% | Germany |
| 1840s | 14.0% | 7.9% | 6.1% | Germany |
| 1850s | 14.3% | 8.6% | 5.7% | Germany |
| 1860s | 14.5% | 9.4% | 5.1% | Germany |
| 1870s | 14.8% | 10.3% | 4.5% | Germany |
| 1880s | 15.1% | 11.3% | 3.8% | Germany |
| 1890s | 15.4% | 12.4% | 3.1% | Germany |
| 1900s | 21.8% | 13.5% | 8.3% | Germany |
| 1910s | 27.3% | 14.8% | 12.4% | Germany |
| 1920s | 34.1% | 16.3% | 17.8% | Germany |
| 1930s | 42.6% | 17.8% | 24.8% | Germany |
| 1940s | 53.2% | 19.5% | 33.7% | Germany |
| 1950s | 72.9% | 23.9% | 49.0% | Germany |
| 1960s | 77.9% | 32.1% | 45.7% | Germany |
| 1970s | 79.8% | 47.5% | 32.3% | Germany |
| 1980s | 80.0% | 64.3% | 15.7% | Germany |
| 1990s | 80.0% | 77.5% | 2.5% | Germany |
| 2000s | 80.2% | 81.0% | 0.8% | South Korea |
| 2010s | 80.7% | 81.7% | 1.0% | South Korea |
| 2020s | 81.8% | 81.2% | 0.7% | Germany |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Germany or South Korea?
- Germany, at 82.1% against 81.2% in South Korea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Germany and South Korea?
- 0.9%, with Germany ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and South Korea?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Germany and South Korea rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Germany ranks 62nd and South Korea ranks 65th 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.