Sierra Leone vs Zambia: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Sierra Leone
45.9%
in 2025
Zambia
45.9%
in 2025
Sierra Leone rank
173rd
Zambia rank
174th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Sierra Leone
- Zambia
How they compare
Sierra Leone currently reports 45.9% against 45.9% in Zambia, a difference of 0.0%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Sierra Leone ahead.
Sierra Leone ranks 173rd and Zambia ranks 174th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Sierra Leone averaged higher in 33 and Zambia in 7.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sierra Leone | Zambia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1400s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1500s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1600s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1700s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1710s | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1720s | 1.5% | 1.4% | 0.0% | Sierra Leone |
| 1730s | 1.6% | 1.6% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1740s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1750s | 2.0% | 1.9% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1760s | 2.1% | 2.1% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1770s | 2.3% | 2.3% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1780s | 2.6% | 2.5% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1790s | 2.8% | 2.7% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1800s | 3.1% | 3.0% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1810s | 3.4% | 3.3% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1820s | 3.7% | 3.6% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1830s | 4.0% | 3.9% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1840s | 4.4% | 4.3% | 0.1% | Sierra Leone |
| 1850s | 4.8% | 4.7% | 0.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1860s | 5.3% | 5.1% | 0.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1870s | 5.8% | 5.6% | 0.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1880s | 6.4% | 6.2% | 0.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1890s | 7.0% | 6.7% | 0.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1900s | 7.6% | 7.4% | 0.3% | Sierra Leone |
| 1910s | 8.4% | 8.1% | 0.3% | Sierra Leone |
| 1920s | 9.2% | 8.9% | 0.3% | Sierra Leone |
| 1930s | 10.0% | 9.7% | 0.3% | Sierra Leone |
| 1940s | 11.0% | 10.6% | 0.4% | Sierra Leone |
| 1950s | 14.6% | 13.4% | 1.2% | Sierra Leone |
| 1960s | 20.2% | 22.7% | 2.5% | Zambia |
| 1970s | 27.3% | 35.8% | 8.5% | Zambia |
| 1980s | 31.8% | 39.7% | 7.9% | Zambia |
| 1990s | 34.4% | 38.2% | 3.8% | Zambia |
| 2000s | 36.8% | 37.3% | 0.5% | Zambia |
| 2010s | 40.6% | 41.7% | 1.1% | Zambia |
| 2020s | 44.6% | 44.9% | 0.3% | 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?, Sierra Leone or Zambia?
- Sierra Leone, at 45.9% against 45.9% in Zambia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Sierra Leone and Zambia?
- 0.0%, with Sierra Leone ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sierra Leone and Zambia?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Sierra Leone and Zambia rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Sierra Leone ranks 173rd 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 modelled historical data.