Nigeria vs United States: Rural population
Rural population over time
- Nigeria
- United States
How they compare
Nigeria currently reports 86.04 million against 67.70 million in United States, a difference of 18.34 million.
That makes Nigeria's figure about 1.3 times United States's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was United States ahead.
Nigeria ranks 7th and United States ranks 8th of 217 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Nigeria averaged higher in 4 and United States in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Nigeria | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 41.25 million | 53.97 million | 12.72 million | United States |
| 1970s | 48.19 million | 56.75 million | 8.56 million | United States |
| 1980s | 57.86 million | 60.88 million | 3.02 million | United States |
| 1990s | 66.95 million | 60.74 million | 6.21 million | Nigeria |
| 2000s | 75.63 million | 58.80 million | 16.82 million | Nigeria |
| 2010s | 83.76 million | 62.39 million | 21.37 million | Nigeria |
| 2020s | 86.14 million | 66.97 million | 19.18 million | Nigeria |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher rural population, Nigeria or United States?
- Nigeria, at 86.04 million against 67.70 million in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in rural population between Nigeria and United States?
- 18.34 million, with Nigeria ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Nigeria and United States?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do Nigeria and United States rank globally for rural population?
- Nigeria ranks 7th and United States ranks 8th of 217 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as Rural population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.