Rural population growth (annual %) in Congo
Congo: Rural population growth (annual %) was 1.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population growth in Congo, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population growth in Congo stood at 1.7%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.2% on the previous year and down 17.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Congo peaked at 3.7% in 2010 and was at its lowest, -0.6%, in 1981.
That places Congo 28th out of 210 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Rural population growth (annual %) in Congo, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.1% | — |
| 1962 | 2.6% | +21.1% |
| 1963 | 2.6% | -0.4% |
| 1964 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1967 | 2.6% | -0.3% |
| 1968 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1969 | 2.6% | +0.4% |
| 1970 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 2.6% | +0.4% |
| 1972 | 2.6% | +0.4% |
| 1973 | 2.6% | -0.3% |
| 1974 | 2.5% | -4.6% |
| 1975 | 1.7% | -30.9% |
| 1976 | 0.8% | -53.2% |
| 1977 | 0.3% | -60.4% |
| 1978 | -0.1% | -121.1% |
| 1979 | -0.4% | +441.6% |
| 1980 | -0.5% | +48.3% |
| 1981 | -0.6% | +6.2% |
| 1982 | -0.5% | -14.7% |
| 1983 | -0.3% | -42.0% |
| 1984 | 0.6% | -326.3% |
| 1985 | 1.6% | +142.2% |
| 1986 | 1.8% | +14.2% |
| 1987 | 1.9% | +5.6% |
| 1988 | 1.9% | +3.6% |
| 1989 | 2.0% | +3.4% |
| 1990 | 2.0% | +0.9% |
| 1991 | 2.0% | +1.0% |
| 1992 | 2.0% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 2.2% | +5.9% |
| 1994 | 2.1% | -1.4% |
| 1995 | 1.9% | -9.6% |
| 1996 | 1.8% | -6.5% |
| 1997 | 1.0% | -41.8% |
| 1998 | 1.0% | -4.8% |
| 1999 | 1.4% | +42.4% |
| 2000 | 2.5% | +76.4% |
| 2001 | 2.4% | -2.8% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | -57.0% |
| 2003 | 1.5% | +47.4% |
| 2004 | 2.3% | +47.0% |
| 2005 | 2.6% | +14.6% |
| 2006 | 2.9% | +12.6% |
| 2007 | 3.1% | +4.7% |
| 2008 | 2.8% | -8.6% |
| 2009 | 3.5% | +25.5% |
| 2010 | 3.7% | +4.6% |
| 2011 | 2.8% | -23.8% |
| 2012 | 2.4% | -15.5% |
| 2013 | 2.0% | -14.4% |
| 2014 | 2.0% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 2.1% | +1.4% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | +1.8% |
| 2017 | 2.1% | +2.0% |
| 2018 | 2.2% | +2.1% |
| 2019 | 2.2% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 2.3% | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 2.3% | +2.2% |
| 2023 | 2.4% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | 1.8% | -24.7% |
| 2025 | 1.7% | -4.2% |
Congo compared with similar countries
- Congo's 1.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.9%, 2.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Congo's 1.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.2%, 1.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Rural population growth (annual %) in Congo changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | -441.6% | -0.1% | -0.4% |
| 1984 | +326.3% | -0.3% | 0.6% |
| 1985 | +142.2% | 0.6% | 1.6% |
| 1978 | -121.1% | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | +76.4% | 1.4% | 2.5% |
| 1977 | -60.4% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.5% | -0.4% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8% | -0.6% | 2.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.8% | 1.0% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 1.0% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 2.0% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.1% | 1.7% | 2.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Congo
- 25 Uganda 1.7% compare
- 26 Tanzania 1.7% compare
- 27 Belize 1.7% compare
- 29 Madagascar 1.7% compare
- 30 South Sudan 1.6% compare
- 31 Equatorial Guinea 1.6% compare
More agriculture & rural data for Congo
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 11.08 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1011 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 254.21 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.72 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3588 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 10.1% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 10.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.4% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Congo?
- Rural population growth in Congo was 1.7% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 2010.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.6% in 1981.
- How does Congo rank for rural population growth?
- Congo ranks 28th out of 210 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Congo data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. 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.