Share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Share of population living in urban areas was 84.4% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan stood at 84.4%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 7.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan peaked at 84.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 50.5%, in 1950.
That places Afghanistan 59th out of 236 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 51.4% | 50.5% | 52.2% | 2 |
| 1960s | 55.5% | 54.2% | 56.8% | 2 |
| 1970s | 61.2% | 59.7% | 62.7% | 2 |
| 1980s | 61.6% | 60.3% | 63.0% | 2 |
| 1990s | 65.0% | 62.1% | 68.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 73.8% | 71.9% | 75.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 80.2% | 78.4% | 81.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 84.4% | 84.4% | 84.4% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
More reference data data for Afghanistan
- Spring temperature anomalies 3.05 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.1923 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.6919 °C (2026)
- Elected parliament 0 (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 0 (2025)
- Free country 0 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 7 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.44 °C (2025)
- Democracy 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Afghanistan was 84.4% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 84.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 50.5% in 1950.
- How does Afghanistan rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Afghanistan ranks 59th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban areas. 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
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.