Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Norway
Norway: Do more people live in urban or rural areas? was 83.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Norway, 1000–2025
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
Norway recorded 83.6% 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 0.3% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Norway peaked at 83.6% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1000.
Norway ranks 59th of 238 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 108 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1100s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1200s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1300s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1400s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1 |
| 1500s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
| 1600s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1700s | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 1 |
| 1710s | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 1 |
| 1720s | 7.7% | 7.7% | 7.7% | 1 |
| 1730s | 9.6% | 9.6% | 9.6% | 1 |
| 1740s | 11.4% | 11.4% | 11.4% | 1 |
| 1750s | 13.3% | 13.3% | 13.3% | 1 |
| 1760s | 15.1% | 15.1% | 15.1% | 1 |
| 1770s | 17.0% | 17.0% | 17.0% | 1 |
| 1780s | 18.9% | 18.9% | 18.9% | 1 |
| 1790s | 20.7% | 20.7% | 20.7% | 1 |
| 1800s | 22.6% | 22.6% | 22.6% | 1 |
| 1810s | 24.4% | 24.4% | 24.4% | 1 |
| 1820s | 26.3% | 26.3% | 26.3% | 1 |
| 1830s | 28.2% | 28.2% | 28.2% | 1 |
| 1840s | 30.0% | 30.0% | 30.0% | 1 |
| 1850s | 31.9% | 31.9% | 31.9% | 1 |
| 1860s | 33.7% | 33.7% | 33.7% | 1 |
| 1870s | 35.6% | 35.6% | 35.6% | 1 |
| 1880s | 37.4% | 37.4% | 37.4% | 1 |
| 1890s | 39.3% | 39.3% | 39.3% | 1 |
| 1900s | 41.2% | 41.2% | 41.2% | 1 |
| 1910s | 43.0% | 43.0% | 43.0% | 1 |
| 1920s | 44.9% | 44.9% | 44.9% | 1 |
| 1930s | 46.7% | 46.7% | 46.7% | 1 |
| 1940s | 48.6% | 48.6% | 48.6% | 1 |
| 1950s | 48.2% | 47.9% | 48.6% | 10 |
| 1960s | 55.5% | 48.7% | 64.4% | 10 |
| 1970s | 68.4% | 65.6% | 70.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 71.2% | 70.6% | 71.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 73.8% | 71.9% | 75.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 77.6% | 76.1% | 79.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 80.8% | 79.2% | 82.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.1% | 82.7% | 83.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Norway
- 56 Peru 85.6% compare
- 57 Saudi Arabia 84.6% compare
- 58 New Zealand 84.0% compare
- 60 United Kingdom 83.3% compare
- 61 Canada 82.9% compare
- 62 Germany 82.1% compare
More reference data data for Norway
- Spring temperature anomalies 4.27 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.74 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -2.84 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 2.11 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 3.43 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 149.54 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Norway?
- Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Norway was 83.6% 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 Norway?
- The highest recorded value was 83.6% in 2025.
- What is the lowest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Norway?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1000.
- How does Norway rank for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Norway ranks 59th out of 238 countries with data for 2025.
- Is do more people live in urban or rural areas? rising or falling in Norway?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Norway 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
Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modelled historical data.