Share of population living in urban areas in Vietnam
Vietnam: Share of population living in urban areas was 86.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Vietnam, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Vietnam recorded 86.9% for share of population living in urban areas in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Vietnam peaked at 86.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 58.0%, in 1950.
That places Vietnam 43rd 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 | 59.2% | 58.0% | 60.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 64.9% | 63.5% | 66.3% | 2 |
| 1970s | 69.7% | 68.6% | 70.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 75.5% | 73.8% | 77.1% | 2 |
| 1990s | 81.1% | 79.8% | 82.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 84.1% | 83.7% | 84.5% | 2 |
| 2010s | 86.0% | 85.6% | 86.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 86.9% | 86.9% | 86.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Vietnam
- 40 Iraq 87.5% compare
- 41 Trinidad and Tobago 87.4% compare
- 42 Saint Barthelemy 87.2% compare
- 44 North Korea 86.6% compare
- 45 Barbados 86.4% compare
- 46 Comoros 86.3% compare
More reference data data for Vietnam
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 10.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 74.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 12.35 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0.4368 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 23.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 16.73 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 93.83 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 16.73 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 18.98 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Vietnam?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Vietnam was 86.9% 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 Vietnam?
- The highest recorded value was 86.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Vietnam?
- The lowest recorded value was 58.0% in 1950.
- How does Vietnam rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Vietnam ranks 43rd out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Vietnam?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Vietnam 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.