Share of population living in urban areas in Israel

Israel: Share of population living in urban areas was 93.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
93.6%
World rank
18th
of 236 countries
All-time high
93.6%
in 2020
All-time low
69.4%
in 1950
Years of data
15
1950–2020

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

0204060801001950198520201950: 69.4 %1955: 73.4 %1960: 76.4 %1965: 79.5 %1970: 82.5 %1975: 84.5 %1980: 85.5 %1985: 86.6 %1990: 87.2 %1995: 90.1 %2000: 91.6 %2005: 92.2 %2010: 92.5 %2015: 93.1 %2020: 93.6 %

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 Israel stood at 93.6%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Israel peaked at 93.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 69.4%, in 1950.

That places Israel 18th out of 236 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 71.4% 69.4% 73.4% 2
1960s 78.0% 76.4% 79.5% 2
1970s 83.5% 82.5% 84.5% 2
1980s 86.0% 85.5% 86.6% 2
1990s 88.6% 87.2% 90.1% 2
2000s 91.9% 91.6% 92.2% 2
2010s 92.8% 92.5% 93.1% 2
2020s 93.6% 93.6% 93.6% 1

Countries ranked near Israel

  1. 15 Curacao 94.6% compare
  2. 16 Taiwan 94.6% compare
  3. 17 Palestine 94.1% compare
  4. 19 Jordan 93.5% compare
  5. 20 Qatar 93.3% compare
  6. 21 Nauru 92.4% compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for Israel

All data for Israel →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of population living in urban areas in Israel?
Share of population living in urban areas in Israel was 93.6% 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 Israel?
The highest recorded value was 93.6% in 2020.
What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Israel?
The lowest recorded value was 69.4% in 1950.
How does Israel rank for share of population living in urban areas?
Israel ranks 18th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Israel?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Israel 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.