Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati
Kiribati: Do more people live in urban or rural areas? was 63.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
63.4%
Change on year
up 1.5%
World rank
130th
of 238 countries
All-time high
63.4%
in 2025
All-time low
10.5%
in 1950
Years of data
76
1950–2025
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati, 1950–2025
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
In 2025, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati stood at 63.4%. That is the highest value across all 76 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 24.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati peaked at 63.4% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 10.5%, in 1950.
That places Kiribati 130th out of 238 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 76 years of available data.
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 10.5% | — |
| 1951 | 11.0% | +4.3% |
| 1952 | 11.4% | +3.9% |
| 1953 | 11.8% | +3.6% |
| 1954 | 12.2% | +3.5% |
| 1955 | 12.6% | +3.4% |
| 1956 | 13.1% | +3.4% |
| 1957 | 13.5% | +3.5% |
| 1958 | 14.0% | +3.7% |
| 1959 | 14.6% | +4.0% |
| 1960 | 15.2% | +4.2% |
| 1961 | 16.0% | +5.2% |
| 1962 | 17.0% | +6.4% |
| 1963 | 18.2% | +6.9% |
| 1964 | 19.5% | +6.9% |
| 1965 | 20.7% | +6.4% |
| 1966 | 21.9% | +5.7% |
| 1967 | 22.9% | +4.7% |
| 1968 | 23.7% | +3.4% |
| 1969 | 24.2% | +2.2% |
| 1970 | 24.5% | +1.4% |
| 1971 | 24.8% | +1.1% |
| 1972 | 25.1% | +1.2% |
| 1973 | 25.5% | +1.5% |
| 1974 | 26.1% | +2.6% |
| 1975 | 27.4% | +4.8% |
| 1976 | 29.0% | +5.7% |
| 1977 | 30.5% | +5.3% |
| 1978 | 31.6% | +3.6% |
| 1979 | 32.1% | +1.7% |
| 1980 | 32.4% | +1.0% |
| 1981 | 32.7% | +0.8% |
| 1982 | 32.9% | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 33.1% | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 33.3% | +0.6% |
| 1985 | 33.5% | +0.7% |
| 1986 | 33.8% | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 34.1% | +0.9% |
| 1988 | 34.4% | +0.9% |
| 1989 | 34.7% | +0.9% |
| 1990 | 35.0% | +0.9% |
| 1991 | 35.3% | +0.8% |
| 1992 | 35.5% | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 35.7% | +0.6% |
| 1994 | 36.0% | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 36.3% | +1.0% |
| 1996 | 37.1% | +2.0% |
| 1997 | 38.6% | +4.2% |
| 1998 | 40.5% | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 42.3% | +4.4% |
| 2000 | 43.3% | +2.4% |
| 2001 | 43.5% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 43.5% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 43.5% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 43.5% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 43.5% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 43.7% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 44.6% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 45.9% | +3.0% |
| 2009 | 47.4% | +3.1% |
| 2010 | 48.5% | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 49.1% | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 49.6% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 50.0% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 50.4% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 51.0% | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 51.8% | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 53.0% | +2.3% |
| 2018 | 54.5% | +2.9% |
| 2019 | 56.3% | +3.3% |
| 2020 | 58.4% | +3.8% |
| 2021 | 59.6% | +2.1% |
| 2022 | 60.6% | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 61.5% | +1.6% |
| 2024 | 62.5% | +1.5% |
| 2025 | 63.4% | +1.5% |
Kiribati compared with similar countries
- Kiribati's 63.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 50.9%, 1.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Kiribati's 63.4% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 65.4%, 97% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 12.5% | 10.5% | 14.6% | 10 |
| 1960s | 19.9% | 15.2% | 24.2% | 10 |
| 1970s | 27.7% | 24.5% | 32.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 33.5% | 32.4% | 34.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 37.2% | 35.0% | 42.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 44.3% | 43.3% | 47.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 51.4% | 48.5% | 56.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 61.0% | 58.4% | 63.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Kiribati
More reference data data for Kiribati
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0058 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0059 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0059 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0194 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0086 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0008 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0202 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure applied 5.13 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati?
- Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Kiribati was 63.4% 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 Kiribati?
- The highest recorded value was 63.4% in 2025.
- What is the lowest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Kiribati?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.5% in 1950.
- How does Kiribati rank for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Kiribati ranks 130th out of 238 countries with data for 2025.
- Is do more people live in urban or rural areas? rising or falling in Kiribati?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kiribati 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 — 76 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modeled historical data.