Ghana vs Jamaica: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?

Ghana
58.9%
in 2025
Jamaica
59.4%
in 2025
Ghana rank
148th
Jamaica rank
145th

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

  • Ghana
  • Jamaica
0204060100015122025

How they compare

Jamaica currently reports 59.4% against 58.9% in Ghana, a difference of 0.5%.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Ghana ahead.

Ghana ranks 148th and Jamaica ranks 145th of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Ghana averaged higher in 16 and Jamaica in 24.

Head to head by decade

Decade Ghana Jamaica Difference Ahead
1000s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Ghana
1100s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Ghana
1200s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Ghana
1300s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Ghana
1400s 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% Ghana
1500s 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% Ghana
1600s 0.5% 0.4% 0.1% Ghana
1700s 1.5% 1.2% 0.3% Ghana
1710s 1.7% 1.4% 0.3% Ghana
1720s 1.9% 1.6% 0.3% Ghana
1730s 2.1% 1.8% 0.3% Ghana
1740s 2.3% 2.0% 0.3% Ghana
1750s 2.5% 2.3% 0.2% Ghana
1760s 2.7% 2.6% 0.2% Ghana
1770s 3.0% 2.9% 0.1% Ghana
1780s 3.3% 3.3% 0.0% Ghana
1790s 3.6% 3.7% 0.1% Jamaica
1800s 3.9% 4.1% 0.2% Jamaica
1810s 4.3% 4.6% 0.3% Jamaica
1820s 4.7% 5.2% 0.5% Jamaica
1830s 5.2% 5.9% 0.7% Jamaica
1840s 5.7% 6.6% 0.9% Jamaica
1850s 6.2% 7.4% 1.2% Jamaica
1860s 6.8% 8.4% 1.5% Jamaica
1870s 7.5% 9.4% 1.9% Jamaica
1880s 8.2% 10.6% 2.4% Jamaica
1890s 8.9% 11.9% 2.9% Jamaica
1900s 9.8% 13.4% 3.6% Jamaica
1910s 10.7% 15.1% 4.3% Jamaica
1920s 11.8% 16.9% 5.2% Jamaica
1930s 12.9% 19.1% 6.2% Jamaica
1940s 14.1% 21.4% 7.3% Jamaica
1950s 18.9% 25.3% 6.4% Jamaica
1960s 26.1% 35.2% 9.0% Jamaica
1970s 30.0% 44.3% 14.3% Jamaica
1980s 32.6% 48.3% 15.7% Jamaica
1990s 39.5% 50.5% 10.9% Jamaica
2000s 47.1% 52.7% 5.6% Jamaica
2010s 53.3% 55.1% 1.8% Jamaica
2020s 57.5% 58.2% 0.7% Jamaica

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Ghana or Jamaica?
Jamaica, at 59.4% against 58.9% in Ghana as of 2025.
What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Ghana and Jamaica?
0.5%, with Jamaica ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Ghana and Jamaica?
108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
How do Ghana and Jamaica rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
Ghana ranks 148th and Jamaica ranks 145th 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.