Lesotho vs Zambia: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Lesotho
44.7%
in 2025
Zambia
45.9%
in 2025
Lesotho rank
177th
Zambia rank
174th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Lesotho
- Zambia
How they compare
Zambia currently reports 45.9% against 44.7% in Lesotho, a difference of 1.2%.
Across all 108 years both countries report, Zambia has been ahead every year.
Lesotho ranks 177th and Zambia ranks 174th of 238 countries.
Zambia has averaged higher in every one of the 40 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Lesotho | 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% | 0.3% | Zambia |
| 1700s | 0.1% | 1.2% | 1.0% | Zambia |
| 1710s | 0.2% | 1.3% | 1.2% | Zambia |
| 1720s | 0.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | Zambia |
| 1730s | 0.2% | 1.6% | 1.4% | Zambia |
| 1740s | 0.2% | 1.7% | 1.5% | Zambia |
| 1750s | 0.2% | 1.9% | 1.7% | Zambia |
| 1760s | 0.2% | 2.1% | 1.8% | Zambia |
| 1770s | 0.3% | 2.3% | 2.0% | Zambia |
| 1780s | 0.3% | 2.5% | 2.2% | Zambia |
| 1790s | 0.3% | 2.7% | 2.4% | Zambia |
| 1800s | 0.3% | 3.0% | 2.6% | Zambia |
| 1810s | 0.4% | 3.3% | 2.9% | Zambia |
| 1820s | 0.4% | 3.6% | 3.2% | Zambia |
| 1830s | 0.5% | 3.9% | 3.5% | Zambia |
| 1840s | 0.5% | 4.3% | 3.8% | Zambia |
| 1850s | 0.5% | 4.7% | 4.1% | Zambia |
| 1860s | 0.6% | 5.1% | 4.5% | Zambia |
| 1870s | 0.7% | 5.6% | 5.0% | Zambia |
| 1880s | 0.7% | 6.2% | 5.4% | Zambia |
| 1890s | 0.8% | 6.7% | 6.0% | Zambia |
| 1900s | 0.9% | 7.4% | 6.5% | Zambia |
| 1910s | 0.9% | 8.1% | 7.2% | Zambia |
| 1920s | 1.0% | 8.9% | 7.8% | Zambia |
| 1930s | 1.1% | 9.7% | 8.6% | Zambia |
| 1940s | 1.2% | 10.6% | 9.4% | Zambia |
| 1950s | 2.1% | 13.4% | 11.2% | Zambia |
| 1960s | 6.2% | 22.7% | 16.5% | Zambia |
| 1970s | 10.7% | 35.8% | 25.1% | Zambia |
| 1980s | 11.4% | 39.7% | 28.3% | Zambia |
| 1990s | 16.0% | 38.2% | 22.2% | Zambia |
| 2000s | 22.4% | 37.3% | 14.9% | Zambia |
| 2010s | 33.2% | 41.7% | 8.5% | Zambia |
| 2020s | 42.2% | 44.9% | 2.7% | 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?, Lesotho or Zambia?
- Zambia, at 45.9% against 44.7% in Lesotho as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Lesotho and Zambia?
- 1.2%, with Zambia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and Zambia?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Lesotho and Zambia rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Lesotho ranks 177th 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.