Share of population living in urban areas in Eritrea
Eritrea: Share of population living in urban areas was 63.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Eritrea, 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 Eritrea stood at 63.6%.
That represents a change of up 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Eritrea peaked at 63.7% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 49.7%, in 1950.
Eritrea ranks 169th of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 50.4% | 49.7% | 51.1% | 2 |
| 1960s | 54.1% | 52.9% | 55.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 59.3% | 58.0% | 60.5% | 2 |
| 1980s | 62.4% | 62.1% | 62.7% | 2 |
| 1990s | 63.2% | 62.6% | 63.7% | 2 |
| 2000s | 62.4% | 62.1% | 62.6% | 2 |
| 2010s | 63.0% | 62.7% | 63.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 63.6% | 63.6% | 63.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Eritrea
More reference data data for Eritrea
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.03 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.6441 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.4557 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 0 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.253 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.3232 °C (2025)
- Precipitation anomalies -47.72 millimeters (2025)
- Elected parliament 0 (2025)
- Competitive elections 0 (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Eritrea?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Eritrea was 63.6% 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 Eritrea?
- The highest recorded value was 63.7% in 1990.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Eritrea?
- The lowest recorded value was 49.7% in 1950.
- How does Eritrea rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Eritrea ranks 169th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Eritrea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Eritrea 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.