Malawi vs Papua New Guinea: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Malawi
17.6%
in 2025
Papua New Guinea
15.8%
in 2025
Malawi rank
232nd
Papua New Guinea rank
234th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Malawi
- Papua New Guinea
How they compare
Malawi currently reports 17.6% against 15.8% in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 1.8%.
That makes Malawi's figure about 1.1 times Papua New Guinea's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Malawi ahead.
Malawi ranks 232nd and Papua New Guinea ranks 234th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Malawi averaged higher in 36 and Papua New Guinea in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Papua New Guinea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1400s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1500s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Malawi |
| 1600s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | Malawi |
| 1700s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.3% | Malawi |
| 1710s | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | Malawi |
| 1720s | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | Malawi |
| 1730s | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.4% | Malawi |
| 1740s | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% | Malawi |
| 1750s | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.5% | Malawi |
| 1760s | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.5% | Malawi |
| 1770s | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.6% | Malawi |
| 1780s | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.6% | Malawi |
| 1790s | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.7% | Malawi |
| 1800s | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.8% | Malawi |
| 1810s | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.8% | Malawi |
| 1820s | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.9% | Malawi |
| 1830s | 1.1% | 0.2% | 1.0% | Malawi |
| 1840s | 1.3% | 0.2% | 1.0% | Malawi |
| 1850s | 1.4% | 0.3% | 1.1% | Malawi |
| 1860s | 1.5% | 0.3% | 1.2% | Malawi |
| 1870s | 1.7% | 0.3% | 1.3% | Malawi |
| 1880s | 1.8% | 0.4% | 1.4% | Malawi |
| 1890s | 2.0% | 0.5% | 1.5% | Malawi |
| 1900s | 2.2% | 0.5% | 1.6% | Malawi |
| 1910s | 2.4% | 0.6% | 1.7% | Malawi |
| 1920s | 2.6% | 0.7% | 1.9% | Malawi |
| 1930s | 2.9% | 0.9% | 2.0% | Malawi |
| 1940s | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2.1% | Malawi |
| 1950s | 3.7% | 2.2% | 1.5% | Malawi |
| 1960s | 4.6% | 5.6% | 1.0% | Papua New Guinea |
| 1970s | 7.5% | 12.3% | 4.9% | Papua New Guinea |
| 1980s | 10.1% | 14.1% | 4.0% | Papua New Guinea |
| 1990s | 13.3% | 14.4% | 1.1% | Papua New Guinea |
| 2000s | 15.1% | 13.1% | 2.0% | Malawi |
| 2010s | 15.8% | 13.3% | 2.5% | Malawi |
| 2020s | 16.9% | 14.9% | 2.0% | Malawi |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Malawi or Papua New Guinea?
- Malawi, at 17.6% against 15.8% in Papua New Guinea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Malawi and Papua New Guinea?
- 1.8%, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Papua New Guinea?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Malawi and Papua New Guinea rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Malawi ranks 232nd and Papua New Guinea ranks 234th 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 modelled historical data.