Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines
Philippines: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 26.5% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines is 26.5%, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 3.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines peaked at 26.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 13.8%, in 1950.
That places Philippines 49th out of 180 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 13.8% | — |
| 1955 | 14.7% | +7.0% |
| 1960 | 15.7% | +6.5% |
| 1965 | 16.4% | +4.7% |
| 1970 | 17.5% | +6.2% |
| 1975 | 19.8% | +13.2% |
| 1980 | 20.6% | +4.0% |
| 1985 | 21.2% | +2.8% |
| 1990 | 24.0% | +13.2% |
| 1995 | 24.9% | +4.0% |
| 2000 | 24.4% | -2.2% |
| 2005 | 25.4% | +4.1% |
| 2010 | 25.5% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 26.4% | +3.5% |
| 2020 | 26.5% | +0.5% |
Philippines compared with similar countries
- Philippines's 26.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 19.8%, 1.3× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Philippines's 26.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 21.4%, 1.2× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 14.3% | 13.8% | 14.7% | 2 |
| 1960s | 16.1% | 15.7% | 16.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 18.6% | 17.5% | 19.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 20.9% | 20.6% | 21.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 24.4% | 24.0% | 24.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 24.9% | 24.4% | 25.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 25.9% | 25.5% | 26.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 26.5% | 26.5% | 26.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Philippines
More reference data data for Philippines
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 12.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 12.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 7.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 10.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 15.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 67.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 7.76 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Philippines was 26.5% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Philippines?
- The highest recorded value was 26.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Philippines?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.8% in 1950.
- How does Philippines rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Philippines ranks 49th out of 180 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in Philippines?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Philippines data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents. 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
Percentage of the total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.