Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Maldives
Maldives: Do more people live in urban or rural areas? was 42.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
42.5%
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
183rd
of 238 countries
All-time high
42.5%
in 2025
All-time low
10.7%
in 1950
Years of data
76
1950–2025
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Maldives, 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 Maldives stood at 42.5%. That is the highest value across all 76 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Maldives peaked at 42.5% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 10.7%, in 1950.
Maldives ranks 183rd of 238 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
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 Maldives, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 10.7% | — |
| 1951 | 10.8% | +0.7% |
| 1952 | 10.9% | +0.7% |
| 1953 | 11.0% | +0.7% |
| 1954 | 11.0% | +0.6% |
| 1955 | 11.1% | +0.6% |
| 1956 | 11.2% | +0.6% |
| 1957 | 11.2% | +0.5% |
| 1958 | 11.3% | +0.5% |
| 1959 | 11.3% | +0.4% |
| 1960 | 11.4% | +0.4% |
| 1961 | 11.4% | +0.3% |
| 1962 | 11.4% | +0.2% |
| 1963 | 11.4% | +0.2% |
| 1964 | 11.5% | +0.1% |
| 1965 | 11.5% | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 11.4% | -0.6% |
| 1967 | 11.3% | -0.5% |
| 1968 | 11.4% | +0.8% |
| 1969 | 11.6% | +1.8% |
| 1970 | 11.9% | +2.4% |
| 1971 | 12.5% | +4.8% |
| 1972 | 13.5% | +7.9% |
| 1973 | 14.7% | +9.4% |
| 1974 | 16.2% | +9.7% |
| 1975 | 17.6% | +9.1% |
| 1976 | 19.0% | +7.8% |
| 1977 | 20.2% | +6.0% |
| 1978 | 21.1% | +4.6% |
| 1979 | 22.0% | +4.1% |
| 1980 | 22.8% | +3.9% |
| 1981 | 23.6% | +3.5% |
| 1982 | 24.3% | +3.0% |
| 1983 | 24.9% | +2.4% |
| 1984 | 25.3% | +1.6% |
| 1985 | 25.5% | +0.8% |
| 1986 | 25.6% | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 25.7% | +0.4% |
| 1988 | 25.8% | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 25.8% | +0.2% |
| 1990 | 25.9% | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 25.8% | -0.2% |
| 1992 | 25.7% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 25.6% | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 25.6% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 25.5% | -0.0% |
| 1996 | 25.7% | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 26.0% | +1.3% |
| 1998 | 26.5% | +1.7% |
| 1999 | 27.0% | +2.0% |
| 2000 | 27.6% | +2.2% |
| 2001 | 28.5% | +3.4% |
| 2002 | 29.9% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 31.4% | +5.0% |
| 2004 | 32.9% | +4.7% |
| 2005 | 34.1% | +3.7% |
| 2006 | 34.9% | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 35.4% | +1.6% |
| 2008 | 35.9% | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 36.4% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 36.8% | +1.1% |
| 2011 | 37.1% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 37.5% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 37.8% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 38.2% | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 38.6% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 39.0% | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 39.3% | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 39.7% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 40.0% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 40.4% | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 40.7% | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 41.1% | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 41.5% | +1.1% |
| 2024 | 42.0% | +1.2% |
| 2025 | 42.5% | +1.2% |
Maldives compared with similar countries
- Maldives's 42.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 65.5%, 65% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Maldives's 42.5% is above the median for South Asia, which is 39.1%, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 11.1% | 10.7% | 11.3% | 10 |
| 1960s | 11.4% | 11.3% | 11.6% | 10 |
| 1970s | 16.9% | 11.9% | 22.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.0% | 22.8% | 25.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 25.9% | 25.5% | 27.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 32.7% | 27.6% | 36.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 38.4% | 36.8% | 40.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 41.4% | 40.4% | 42.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Maldives
More reference data data for Maldives
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0044 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0044 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 1.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Crop Residues 0.012 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0.0004 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Maldives?
- Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Maldives was 42.5% 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 Maldives?
- The highest recorded value was 42.5% in 2025.
- What is the lowest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Maldives?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.7% in 1950.
- How does Maldives rank for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Maldives ranks 183rd out of 238 countries with data for 2025.
- Is do more people live in urban or rural areas? rising or falling in Maldives?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Maldives 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.