Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Palau
Palau: Do more people live in urban or rural areas? was 79.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
79.3%
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
75th
of 238 countries
All-time high
81.1%
in 2012
All-time low
25.7%
in 1950
Years of data
76
1950–2025
Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Palau, 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
Palau recorded 79.3% for do more people live in urban or rural areas? in 2025.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and down 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Palau peaked at 81.1% in 2012 and was at its lowest, 25.7%, in 1950.
That places Palau 75th 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 Palau, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 25.7% | — |
| 1951 | 27.6% | +7.4% |
| 1952 | 29.5% | +6.8% |
| 1953 | 31.4% | +6.3% |
| 1954 | 33.2% | +5.8% |
| 1955 | 34.9% | +5.3% |
| 1956 | 36.6% | +4.9% |
| 1957 | 38.3% | +4.4% |
| 1958 | 39.9% | +4.2% |
| 1959 | 41.9% | +5.1% |
| 1960 | 43.9% | +4.7% |
| 1961 | 45.8% | +4.3% |
| 1962 | 47.6% | +3.9% |
| 1963 | 49.3% | +3.6% |
| 1964 | 50.9% | +3.3% |
| 1965 | 52.4% | +3.0% |
| 1966 | 53.8% | +2.7% |
| 1967 | 55.1% | +2.4% |
| 1968 | 56.3% | +2.2% |
| 1969 | 57.4% | +1.9% |
| 1970 | 58.3% | +1.7% |
| 1971 | 59.2% | +1.4% |
| 1972 | 59.8% | +1.2% |
| 1973 | 60.4% | +0.9% |
| 1974 | 60.8% | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 61.1% | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 61.4% | +0.4% |
| 1977 | 61.6% | +0.4% |
| 1978 | 61.8% | +0.4% |
| 1979 | 62.1% | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 62.5% | +0.6% |
| 1981 | 63.2% | +1.1% |
| 1982 | 64.2% | +1.7% |
| 1983 | 65.5% | +2.0% |
| 1984 | 66.8% | +1.9% |
| 1985 | 67.8% | +1.5% |
| 1986 | 68.3% | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 68.7% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 68.9% | +0.4% |
| 1989 | 69.2% | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 69.5% | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 70.0% | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 70.4% | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 70.9% | +0.6% |
| 1994 | 71.2% | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 71.4% | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 71.2% | -0.2% |
| 1997 | 70.8% | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 70.2% | -0.8% |
| 1999 | 69.7% | -0.7% |
| 2000 | 69.6% | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 70.5% | +1.4% |
| 2002 | 72.4% | +2.6% |
| 2003 | 74.5% | +3.0% |
| 2004 | 76.4% | +2.5% |
| 2005 | 77.6% | +1.5% |
| 2006 | 78.3% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 79.0% | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 79.7% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 80.2% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 80.7% | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 81.0% | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 81.1% | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 81.1% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 80.7% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 80.4% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 80.1% | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 79.8% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 79.6% | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 79.3% | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 79.1% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 79.1% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 79.1% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 79.2% | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 79.2% | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 79.3% | +0.1% |
Palau compared with similar countries
- Palau's 79.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 81.3%, 97% of the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Palau's 79.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 65.4%, 1.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 33.9% | 25.7% | 41.9% | 10 |
| 1960s | 51.2% | 43.9% | 57.4% | 10 |
| 1970s | 60.7% | 58.3% | 62.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 66.5% | 62.5% | 69.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 70.5% | 69.5% | 71.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 75.8% | 69.6% | 80.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 80.4% | 79.3% | 81.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 79.2% | 79.1% | 79.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Palau
More reference data data for Palau
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Consumer price index 160.77 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 1 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
- Free country, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating, gaps filled 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Palau?
- Do more people live in urban or rural areas? in Palau was 79.3% 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 Palau?
- The highest recorded value was 81.1% in 2012.
- What is the lowest do more people live in urban or rural areas? recorded in Palau?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.7% in 1950.
- How does Palau rank for do more people live in urban or rural areas??
- Palau ranks 75th out of 238 countries with data for 2025.
- Is do more people live in urban or rural areas? rising or falling in Palau?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Palau 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.
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About this data
Share of the population living in urban areas, combining UN estimates with modeled historical data.