Share of population living in urban areas in United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates: Share of population living in urban areas was 90.3% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in United Arab Emirates, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
United Arab Emirates recorded 90.3% for share of population living in urban areas in 2020.
That represents a change of down 0.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in United Arab Emirates peaked at 90.9% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 55.6%, in 1950.
That places United Arab Emirates 30th 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 | 57.1% | 55.6% | 58.5% | 2 |
| 1960s | 60.9% | 60.3% | 61.6% | 2 |
| 1970s | 66.4% | 65.1% | 67.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 80.5% | 79.1% | 81.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 84.8% | 84.1% | 85.5% | 2 |
| 2000s | 88.8% | 88.1% | 89.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 90.6% | 90.3% | 90.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 90.3% | 90.3% | 90.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near United Arab Emirates
- 27 Guernsey 90.9% compare
- 28 Mauritius 90.9% compare
- 29 Jersey 90.8% compare
- 31 Western Sahara 90.1% compare
- 32 South Korea 90.1% compare
More reference data data for United Arab Emirates
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Enteric Fermentat 962.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Burning - Crop re 0.0087 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure left on Pasture 507.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 669.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure applied to Soils 36.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure Management 89.99 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Enteric Fermentation 962.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Direct emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Crop Residues 0.2115 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in United Arab Emirates?
- Share of population living in urban areas in United Arab Emirates was 90.3% 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 United Arab Emirates?
- The highest recorded value was 90.9% in 2015.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in United Arab Emirates?
- The lowest recorded value was 55.6% in 1950.
- How does United Arab Emirates rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- United Arab Emirates ranks 30th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in United Arab Emirates?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Arab Emirates 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.