Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt
Egypt: Share of population living in urban and rural areas was 96.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt stood at 96.9%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt peaked at 96.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 84.8%, in 1950.
Egypt ranks 10th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 84.8% | — |
| 1955 | 86.0% | +1.5% |
| 1960 | 87.3% | +1.4% |
| 1965 | 88.5% | +1.4% |
| 1970 | 89.6% | +1.2% |
| 1975 | 90.5% | +1.0% |
| 1980 | 91.9% | +1.5% |
| 1985 | 93.0% | +1.2% |
| 1990 | 94.2% | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 95.0% | +0.9% |
| 2000 | 95.6% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 96.1% | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 96.4% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 96.6% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 96.9% | +0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 85.4% | 84.8% | 86.0% | 2 |
| 1960s | 87.9% | 87.3% | 88.5% | 2 |
| 1970s | 90.1% | 89.6% | 90.5% | 2 |
| 1980s | 92.4% | 91.9% | 93.0% | 2 |
| 1990s | 94.6% | 94.2% | 95.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 95.8% | 95.6% | 96.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 96.5% | 96.4% | 96.6% | 2 |
| 2020s | 96.9% | 96.9% | 96.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
More reference data data for Egypt
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2851 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 16.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.2 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 16.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.956 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.4622 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 25.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 71.76 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 6.55 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt?
- Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Egypt was 96.9% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban and rural areas recorded in Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 96.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban and rural areas recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was 84.8% in 1950.
- How does Egypt rank for share of population living in urban and rural areas?
- Egypt ranks 10th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban and rural areas rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Egypt data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban and rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.