Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Singapore
Singapore: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 84.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Singapore, 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 Singapore is 84.8%, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Singapore peaked at 89.2% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1950.
That places Singapore 2nd out of 180 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
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 Singapore, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.0% | — |
| 1955 | 78.7% | — |
| 1960 | 83.4% | +5.9% |
| 1965 | 85.6% | +2.7% |
| 1970 | 85.7% | +0.1% |
| 1975 | 88.4% | +3.1% |
| 1980 | 89.2% | +1.0% |
| 1985 | 89.0% | -0.2% |
| 1990 | 88.5% | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 88.3% | -0.3% |
| 2000 | 87.7% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 87.0% | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 86.4% | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 85.6% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 84.8% | -1.0% |
Singapore compared with similar countries
- Singapore's 84.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 15.3%, 5.6× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Singapore's 84.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 21.4%, 4.0× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 39.3% | 0.0% | 78.7% | 2 |
| 1960s | 84.5% | 83.4% | 85.6% | 2 |
| 1970s | 87.0% | 85.7% | 88.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 89.1% | 89.0% | 89.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 88.4% | 88.3% | 88.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 87.4% | 87.0% | 87.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 86.0% | 85.6% | 86.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 84.8% | 84.8% | 84.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Singapore
More reference data data for Singapore
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.008 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0066 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0618 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0618 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0269 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0096 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0378 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.2664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2567 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Singapore?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Singapore was 84.8% 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 Singapore?
- The highest recorded value was 89.2% in 1980.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Singapore?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1950.
- How does Singapore rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Singapore ranks 2nd 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 Singapore?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Singapore 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.