Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Portugal
Portugal: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 18.0% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Portugal, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Portugal recorded 18.0% for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 9.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Portugal peaked at 18.0% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1950.
That places Portugal 82nd 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 Portugal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.0% | — |
| 1955 | 0.0% | — |
| 1960 | 11.8% | — |
| 1965 | 12.4% | +5.6% |
| 1970 | 13.1% | +5.5% |
| 1975 | 13.9% | +6.0% |
| 1980 | 15.4% | +10.5% |
| 1985 | 15.4% | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 15.5% | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 16.2% | +5.0% |
| 2000 | 16.2% | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 16.3% | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 16.5% | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 17.2% | +4.8% |
| 2020 | 18.0% | +4.1% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 18.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 15.3%, 1.2× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 18.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.6%, 1.6× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1960s | 12.1% | 11.8% | 12.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 13.5% | 13.1% | 13.9% | 2 |
| 1980s | 15.4% | 15.4% | 15.4% | 2 |
| 1990s | 15.9% | 15.5% | 16.2% | 2 |
| 2000s | 16.2% | 16.2% | 16.3% | 2 |
| 2010s | 16.8% | 16.5% | 17.2% | 2 |
| 2020s | 18.0% | 18.0% | 18.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More reference data data for Portugal
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5144 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.4372 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0472 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.72 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2572 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Portugal?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Portugal was 18.0% 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 Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 18.0% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1950.
- How does Portugal rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Portugal ranks 82nd 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 Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal 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.