Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia
Russia: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 17.1% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia stood at 17.1%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia peaked at 17.1% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 7.6%, in 1950.
That places Russia 84th 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 Russia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 7.6% | — |
| 1955 | 7.7% | +0.9% |
| 1960 | 10.6% | +37.1% |
| 1965 | 10.9% | +3.0% |
| 1970 | 12.3% | +12.5% |
| 1975 | 14.4% | +17.8% |
| 1980 | 16.4% | +13.4% |
| 1985 | 16.5% | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 17.0% | +3.1% |
| 1995 | 15.4% | -9.1% |
| 2000 | 15.9% | +2.9% |
| 2005 | 16.5% | +4.2% |
| 2010 | 16.5% | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 17.0% | +3.2% |
| 2020 | 17.1% | +0.5% |
Russia compared with similar countries
- Russia's 17.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 15.3%, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Russia's 17.1% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.6%, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | +37.1% | 7.7% | 10.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 7.7% | 7.6% | 7.7% | 2 |
| 1960s | 10.7% | 10.6% | 10.9% | 2 |
| 1970s | 13.3% | 12.3% | 14.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 16.4% | 16.4% | 16.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 16.2% | 15.4% | 17.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 16.2% | 15.9% | 16.5% | 2 |
| 2010s | 16.7% | 16.5% | 17.0% | 2 |
| 2020s | 17.1% | 17.1% | 17.1% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Russia
More reference data data for Russia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 9.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.11 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 26.58 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 4.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 26.58 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 31.32 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 19.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 18.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 129.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 26.88 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia was 17.1% 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 Russia?
- The highest recorded value was 17.1% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Russia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.6% in 1950.
- How does Russia rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Russia ranks 84th 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 Russia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Russia 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.