Share of population living in urban areas in Taiwan
Taiwan: Share of population living in urban areas was 94.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Taiwan, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Taiwan recorded 94.6% for share of population living in urban areas in 2020.
That represents a change of down 0.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Taiwan peaked at 94.8% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 85.3%, in 1950.
That places Taiwan 16th 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 86.4% | 85.3% | 87.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 90.3% | 89.5% | 91.1% | 2 |
| 1970s | 92.5% | 92.1% | 92.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 93.4% | 93.2% | 93.6% | 2 |
| 1990s | 94.3% | 94.0% | 94.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 94.8% | 94.7% | 94.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 94.8% | 94.8% | 94.8% | 2 |
| 2020s | 94.6% | 94.6% | 94.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Taiwan
More reference data data for Taiwan
- Chief executive of the government is elected 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 1 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
- Elite Consultations Score 1.63 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Taiwan?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Taiwan was 94.6% 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 Taiwan?
- The highest recorded value was 94.8% in 2010.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Taiwan?
- The lowest recorded value was 85.3% in 1950.
- How does Taiwan rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Taiwan ranks 16th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Taiwan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Taiwan 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.