Urban area over the long-term in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Urban area over the long-term was 5,799 km² per grid cell in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
5,799 km² per grid cell
Change on year
up 4.0%
World rank
27th
of 202 countries
All-time high
5,799 km² per grid cell
in 2025
All-time low
0 km² per grid cell
in 1000
Years of data
108
1000–2025

Urban area over the long-term in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1000–2025

02.0k4.0k6.0k100015122025

Source: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in km² per grid cell.

Analysis

Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 5,799 km² per grid cell for urban area over the long-term in 2025. That is the highest value across all 108 years on record.

The figure is up 4.0% on the previous year and up 56.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, urban area over the long-term in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 5,799 km² per grid cell in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0 km² per grid cell, in 1000.

That places Democratic Republic of Congo 27th out of 202 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 0 km² per grid cell 0 km² per grid cell 0 km² per grid cell 1
1100s 0.0002 km² per grid cell 0.0002 km² per grid cell 0.0002 km² per grid cell 1
1200s 0.0006 km² per grid cell 0.0006 km² per grid cell 0.0006 km² per grid cell 1
1300s 0.002 km² per grid cell 0.002 km² per grid cell 0.002 km² per grid cell 1
1400s 0.0071 km² per grid cell 0.0071 km² per grid cell 0.0071 km² per grid cell 1
1500s 0.0242 km² per grid cell 0.0242 km² per grid cell 0.0242 km² per grid cell 1
1600s 0.0773 km² per grid cell 0.0773 km² per grid cell 0.0773 km² per grid cell 1
1700s 0.2455 km² per grid cell 0.2455 km² per grid cell 0.2455 km² per grid cell 1
1710s 0.478 km² per grid cell 0.478 km² per grid cell 0.478 km² per grid cell 1
1720s 0.6475 km² per grid cell 0.6475 km² per grid cell 0.6475 km² per grid cell 1
1730s 0.8767 km² per grid cell 0.8767 km² per grid cell 0.8767 km² per grid cell 1
1740s 1.19 km² per grid cell 1.19 km² per grid cell 1.19 km² per grid cell 1
1750s 1.61 km² per grid cell 1.61 km² per grid cell 1.61 km² per grid cell 1
1760s 2.17 km² per grid cell 2.17 km² per grid cell 2.17 km² per grid cell 1
1770s 2.94 km² per grid cell 2.94 km² per grid cell 2.94 km² per grid cell 1
1780s 3.98 km² per grid cell 3.98 km² per grid cell 3.98 km² per grid cell 1
1790s 5.38 km² per grid cell 5.38 km² per grid cell 5.38 km² per grid cell 1
1800s 7.27 km² per grid cell 7.27 km² per grid cell 7.27 km² per grid cell 1
1810s 9.83 km² per grid cell 9.83 km² per grid cell 9.83 km² per grid cell 1
1820s 13.29 km² per grid cell 13.29 km² per grid cell 13.29 km² per grid cell 1
1830s 17.96 km² per grid cell 17.96 km² per grid cell 17.96 km² per grid cell 1
1840s 24.26 km² per grid cell 24.26 km² per grid cell 24.26 km² per grid cell 1
1850s 32.78 km² per grid cell 32.78 km² per grid cell 32.78 km² per grid cell 1
1860s 43.95 km² per grid cell 43.95 km² per grid cell 43.95 km² per grid cell 1
1870s 62.43 km² per grid cell 62.43 km² per grid cell 62.43 km² per grid cell 1
1880s 89.81 km² per grid cell 89.81 km² per grid cell 89.81 km² per grid cell 1
1890s 125.1 km² per grid cell 125.1 km² per grid cell 125.1 km² per grid cell 1
1900s 157.09 km² per grid cell 157.09 km² per grid cell 157.09 km² per grid cell 1
1910s 183.38 km² per grid cell 183.38 km² per grid cell 183.38 km² per grid cell 1
1920s 209.64 km² per grid cell 209.64 km² per grid cell 209.64 km² per grid cell 1
1930s 261.52 km² per grid cell 261.52 km² per grid cell 261.52 km² per grid cell 1
1940s 295.5 km² per grid cell 295.5 km² per grid cell 295.5 km² per grid cell 1
1950s 368.88 km² per grid cell 344.96 km² per grid cell 401.49 km² per grid cell 10
1960s 514.61 km² per grid cell 411.57 km² per grid cell 644.91 km² per grid cell 10
1970s 753.37 km² per grid cell 683.36 km² per grid cell 837.14 km² per grid cell 10
1980s 958.45 km² per grid cell 858.64 km² per grid cell 1,078 km² per grid cell 10
1990s 1,351 km² per grid cell 1,124 km² per grid cell 1,587 km² per grid cell 10
2000s 2,085 km² per grid cell 1,654 km² per grid cell 2,592 km² per grid cell 10
2010s 3,606 km² per grid cell 2,728 km² per grid cell 4,516 km² per grid cell 10
2020s 5,258 km² per grid cell 4,733 km² per grid cell 5,799 km² per grid cell 6

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 24 Saudi Arabia 6,551 km² per grid cell compare
  2. 25 Poland 6,328 km² per grid cell compare
  3. 26 Philippines 6,191 km² per grid cell compare
  4. 28 Thailand 5,324 km² per grid cell compare
  5. 29 Belgium 5,207 km² per grid cell compare
  6. 30 Ghana 4,600 km² per grid cell compare

See the full ranking of 202 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is urban area over the long-term in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Urban area over the long-term in Democratic Republic of Congo was 5,799 km² per grid cell in 2025, according to HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest urban area over the long-term recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 5,799 km² per grid cell in 2025.
What is the lowest urban area over the long-term recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 0 km² per grid cell in 1000.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for urban area over the long-term?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 27th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.
Is urban area over the long-term rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is up 56.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Urban area over the long-term. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 108 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Urban area over the long-term
Unit
km² per grid cell
Source
HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
202 places, 21,816 data points, 1000–2025
Last refreshed

Total built-up area of a country over time.