Switzerland vs United Arab Emirates: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Switzerland
85.7%
in 2025
United Arab Emirates
86.0%
in 2025
Switzerland rank
55th
United Arab Emirates rank
54th
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Switzerland
- United Arab Emirates
How they compare
United Arab Emirates currently reports 86.0% against 85.7% in Switzerland, a difference of 0.3%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was United Arab Emirates ahead.
Switzerland ranks 55th and United Arab Emirates ranks 54th of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Switzerland averaged higher in 24 and United Arab Emirates in 16.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Switzerland | United Arab Emirates | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1400s | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.6% | Switzerland |
| 1500s | 2.4% | 0.1% | 2.2% | Switzerland |
| 1600s | 2.5% | 0.4% | 2.0% | Switzerland |
| 1700s | 3.3% | 1.3% | 2.0% | Switzerland |
| 1710s | 3.5% | 1.3% | 2.2% | Switzerland |
| 1720s | 3.9% | 1.6% | 2.3% | Switzerland |
| 1730s | 4.3% | 1.8% | 2.5% | Switzerland |
| 1740s | 4.8% | 2.1% | 2.7% | Switzerland |
| 1750s | 5.4% | 2.5% | 2.9% | Switzerland |
| 1760s | 6.0% | 2.9% | 3.0% | Switzerland |
| 1770s | 6.6% | 3.4% | 3.2% | Switzerland |
| 1780s | 7.4% | 4.0% | 3.4% | Switzerland |
| 1790s | 8.2% | 4.6% | 3.5% | Switzerland |
| 1800s | 9.1% | 5.4% | 3.7% | Switzerland |
| 1810s | 10.1% | 6.3% | 3.8% | Switzerland |
| 1820s | 11.2% | 7.3% | 3.9% | Switzerland |
| 1830s | 12.5% | 8.6% | 3.9% | Switzerland |
| 1840s | 13.8% | 10.0% | 3.8% | Switzerland |
| 1850s | 15.4% | 11.7% | 3.7% | Switzerland |
| 1860s | 17.0% | 13.6% | 3.4% | Switzerland |
| 1870s | 18.9% | 15.9% | 3.0% | Switzerland |
| 1880s | 20.9% | 18.5% | 2.3% | Switzerland |
| 1890s | 23.1% | 21.6% | 1.5% | Switzerland |
| 1900s | 25.5% | 25.2% | 0.2% | Switzerland |
| 1910s | 28.2% | 29.4% | 1.2% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1920s | 31.3% | 34.3% | 3.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1930s | 34.8% | 40.0% | 5.3% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1940s | 38.6% | 46.7% | 8.2% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1950s | 47.3% | 64.2% | 17.0% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1960s | 54.0% | 77.3% | 23.2% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1970s | 59.2% | 82.8% | 23.6% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1980s | 64.5% | 79.8% | 15.3% | United Arab Emirates |
| 1990s | 71.1% | 78.5% | 7.4% | United Arab Emirates |
| 2000s | 73.5% | 81.5% | 8.1% | United Arab Emirates |
| 2010s | 76.0% | 84.2% | 8.2% | United Arab Emirates |
| 2020s | 84.6% | 85.6% | 0.9% | United Arab Emirates |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher do more people live in urban or rural areas?, Switzerland or United Arab Emirates?
- United Arab Emirates, at 86.0% against 85.7% in Switzerland as of 2025.
- What is the difference in do more people live in urban or rural areas? between Switzerland and United Arab Emirates?
- 0.3%, with United Arab Emirates ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Switzerland and United Arab Emirates?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Switzerland and United Arab Emirates rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Switzerland ranks 55th and United Arab Emirates ranks 54th 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.