Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Bhutan

Bhutan: Do more people live in urban or rural areas? was 43.4% in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
43.4%
Change on year
up 2.0%
World rank
181st
of 238 countries
All-time high
43.4%
in 2025
All-time low
0.0%
in 1000
Years of data
108
1000–2025

Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Bhutan, 1000–2025

010203040100015122025

Source: HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Bhutan recorded 43.4% for do more people live in urban or rural areas? in 2025. That is the highest value across all 108 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 18.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Bhutan peaked at 43.4% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1000.

That places Bhutan 181st out of 238 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1100s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1200s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1300s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1400s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1500s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
1600s 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 1
1700s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1
1710s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1
1720s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1
1730s 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 1
1740s 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 1
1750s 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 1
1760s 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 1
1770s 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 1
1780s 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 1
1790s 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 1
1800s 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 1
1810s 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 1
1820s 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 1
1830s 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 1
1840s 0.7% 0.7% 0.7% 1
1850s 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 1
1860s 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 1
1870s 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1
1880s 1.1% 1.1% 1.1% 1
1890s 1.2% 1.2% 1.2% 1
1900s 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1
1910s 1.4% 1.4% 1.4% 1
1920s 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1
1930s 1.7% 1.7% 1.7% 1
1940s 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 1
1950s 2.2% 2.1% 2.4% 10
1960s 2.7% 2.5% 3.0% 10
1970s 6.6% 3.2% 11.2% 10
1980s 15.8% 12.2% 19.4% 10
1990s 23.6% 20.2% 26.9% 10
2000s 30.6% 27.6% 33.3% 10
2010s 36.4% 33.9% 39.1% 10
2020s 41.4% 39.7% 43.4% 6

Countries ranked near Bhutan

  1. 178 Central African Republic 44.6% compare
  2. 179 Togo 44.4% compare
  3. 180 Moldova 43.7% compare
  4. 182 Egypt 42.9% compare
  5. 183 Maldives 42.5% compare
  6. 184 Belize 41.6% compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More reference data data for Bhutan

All data for Bhutan →

Frequently asked questions

What is do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Bhutan?
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Bhutan was 43.4% in 2025, according to HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Bhutan?
The highest recorded value was 43.4% in 2025.
What is the lowest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Bhutan?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1000.
How does Bhutan rank for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
Bhutan ranks 181st out of 238 countries with data for 2025.
Is do more people live in urban or rural areas? rising or falling in Bhutan?
Over the last ten years it is up 18.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Bhutan data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Do more people live in urban or rural areas?. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 108 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Do more people live in urban or rural areas?
Unit
%
Source
HYDE (2023); United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 24,444 data points, 1000–2025
Last refreshed

Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modelled historical data.