Switzerland vs Western Sahara: Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Switzerland
85.7%
in 2025
Western Sahara
86.9%
in 2025
Switzerland rank
55th
Western Sahara rank
52nd
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? over time
- Switzerland
- Western Sahara
How they compare
Western Sahara currently reports 86.9% against 85.7% in Switzerland, a difference of 1.2%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 108 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Western Sahara ahead.
Switzerland ranks 55th and Western Sahara ranks 52nd of 238 countries.
Across the 40 decades both report, Switzerland averaged higher in 31 and Western Sahara in 9.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Switzerland | Western Sahara | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Western Sahara |
| 1100s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Western Sahara |
| 1200s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Western Sahara |
| 1300s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | Western Sahara |
| 1400s | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.7% | Switzerland |
| 1500s | 2.4% | 0.0% | 2.4% | Switzerland |
| 1600s | 2.5% | 0.0% | 2.4% | Switzerland |
| 1700s | 3.3% | 0.1% | 3.2% | Switzerland |
| 1710s | 3.5% | 0.1% | 3.4% | Switzerland |
| 1720s | 3.9% | 0.2% | 3.7% | Switzerland |
| 1730s | 4.3% | 0.2% | 4.1% | Switzerland |
| 1740s | 4.8% | 0.3% | 4.5% | Switzerland |
| 1750s | 5.4% | 0.4% | 5.0% | Switzerland |
| 1760s | 6.0% | 0.4% | 5.5% | Switzerland |
| 1770s | 6.6% | 0.6% | 6.1% | Switzerland |
| 1780s | 7.4% | 0.7% | 6.7% | Switzerland |
| 1790s | 8.2% | 0.9% | 7.3% | Switzerland |
| 1800s | 9.1% | 1.1% | 8.0% | Switzerland |
| 1810s | 10.1% | 1.4% | 8.7% | Switzerland |
| 1820s | 11.2% | 1.7% | 9.5% | Switzerland |
| 1830s | 12.5% | 2.1% | 10.3% | Switzerland |
| 1840s | 13.8% | 2.7% | 11.2% | Switzerland |
| 1850s | 15.4% | 3.3% | 12.0% | Switzerland |
| 1860s | 17.0% | 4.2% | 12.8% | Switzerland |
| 1870s | 18.9% | 5.2% | 13.7% | Switzerland |
| 1880s | 20.9% | 6.5% | 14.4% | Switzerland |
| 1890s | 23.1% | 8.1% | 15.0% | Switzerland |
| 1900s | 25.5% | 10.2% | 15.3% | Switzerland |
| 1910s | 28.2% | 12.7% | 15.5% | Switzerland |
| 1920s | 31.3% | 15.9% | 15.5% | Switzerland |
| 1930s | 34.8% | 19.8% | 14.9% | Switzerland |
| 1940s | 38.6% | 24.8% | 13.8% | Switzerland |
| 1950s | 47.3% | 31.1% | 16.2% | Switzerland |
| 1960s | 54.0% | 34.0% | 20.0% | Switzerland |
| 1970s | 59.2% | 54.9% | 4.3% | Switzerland |
| 1980s | 64.5% | 82.0% | 17.5% | Western Sahara |
| 1990s | 71.1% | 85.4% | 14.3% | Western Sahara |
| 2000s | 73.5% | 86.1% | 12.6% | Western Sahara |
| 2010s | 76.0% | 86.5% | 10.5% | Western Sahara |
| 2020s | 84.6% | 86.8% | 2.1% | Western Sahara |
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 Western Sahara?
- Western Sahara, at 86.9% 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 Western Sahara?
- 1.2%, with Western Sahara ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Switzerland and Western Sahara?
- 108 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2025.
- How do Switzerland and Western Sahara rank globally for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Switzerland ranks 55th and Western Sahara ranks 52nd 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.