Share of population living in urban areas in Bahrain

Bahrain: Share of population living in urban areas was 97.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
97.9%
World rank
9th
of 236 countries
All-time high
98.1%
in 2005
All-time low
92.7%
in 1950
Years of data
15
1950–2020

Share of population living in urban areas in Bahrain, 1950–2020

0204060801001950198520201950: 92.7 %1955: 92.9 %1960: 93.3 %1965: 93.8 %1970: 93.9 %1975: 94.6 %1980: 95.4 %1985: 95.6 %1990: 97.3 %1995: 97.3 %2000: 97.2 %2005: 98.1 %2010: 97.8 %2015: 97.7 %2020: 97.9 %

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 Bahrain stood at 97.9%.

The figure is up 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Bahrain peaked at 98.1% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 92.7%, in 1950.

Bahrain ranks 9th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 92.8% 92.7% 92.9% 2
1960s 93.6% 93.3% 93.8% 2
1970s 94.3% 93.9% 94.6% 2
1980s 95.5% 95.4% 95.6% 2
1990s 97.3% 97.3% 97.3% 2
2000s 97.6% 97.2% 98.1% 2
2010s 97.8% 97.7% 97.8% 2
2020s 97.9% 97.9% 97.9% 1

Countries ranked near Bahrain

  1. 6 Hong Kong 99.5% compare
  2. 7 Bermuda 98.4% compare
  3. 8 Bangladesh 98.0% compare
  4. 10 Egypt 96.9% compare
  5. 11 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 96.8% compare
  6. 12 Kuwait 96.2% compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for Bahrain

All data for Bahrain →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of population living in urban areas in Bahrain?
Share of population living in urban areas in Bahrain was 97.9% 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 Bahrain?
The highest recorded value was 98.1% in 2005.
What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Bahrain?
The lowest recorded value was 92.7% in 1950.
How does Bahrain rank for share of population living in urban areas?
Bahrain ranks 9th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Bahrain?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Bahrain 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

Indicator
Share of population living in urban areas
Unit
%
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 3,540 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

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.