Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan: Rural population growth was 1.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan stood at 1.2%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 7.0% on the previous year and down 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan peaked at 2.7% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2013.
That places Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 12th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.7% | — |
| 1962 | 1.7% | -0.5% |
| 1963 | 1.7% | +2.5% |
| 1964 | 1.8% | +3.3% |
| 1965 | 1.9% | +5.2% |
| 1966 | 2.0% | +4.5% |
| 1967 | 1.9% | -2.7% |
| 1968 | 2.0% | +2.2% |
| 1969 | 2.0% | -0.0% |
| 1970 | 1.9% | -0.6% |
| 1971 | 1.9% | -3.6% |
| 1972 | 1.8% | -1.9% |
| 1973 | 1.9% | +4.3% |
| 1974 | 2.0% | +1.6% |
| 1975 | 2.1% | +5.5% |
| 1976 | 2.2% | +6.7% |
| 1977 | 2.1% | -3.6% |
| 1978 | 2.2% | +2.9% |
| 1979 | 2.2% | -0.3% |
| 1980 | 2.2% | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 2.1% | -4.7% |
| 1982 | 2.1% | +1.0% |
| 1983 | 2.3% | +9.6% |
| 1984 | 2.4% | +3.1% |
| 1985 | 2.3% | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 2.3% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 2.3% | -1.6% |
| 1988 | 2.4% | +2.0% |
| 1989 | 2.4% | +1.2% |
| 1990 | 2.7% | +12.8% |
| 1991 | 2.4% | -12.6% |
| 1992 | 2.3% | -3.7% |
| 1993 | 2.3% | +2.8% |
| 1994 | 2.2% | -7.5% |
| 1995 | 2.0% | -6.2% |
| 1996 | 2.0% | -0.9% |
| 1997 | 1.8% | -8.9% |
| 1998 | 1.9% | +2.3% |
| 1999 | 1.8% | -1.2% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | -5.9% |
| 2001 | 1.7% | -2.0% |
| 2002 | 1.8% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 1.8% | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 1.8% | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 1.9% | +4.6% |
| 2007 | 1.8% | -4.5% |
| 2008 | 1.8% | -2.0% |
| 2009 | 1.8% | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 1.6% | -9.5% |
| 2011 | 1.5% | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 1.2% | -24.8% |
| 2013 | 0.9% | -22.7% |
| 2014 | 1.1% | +28.8% |
| 2015 | 1.3% | +11.9% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | -2.3% |
| 2017 | 1.3% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 1.3% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | +3.9% |
| 2021 | 1.2% | -10.4% |
| 2022 | 1.2% | +5.4% |
| 2023 | 1.3% | +3.9% |
| 2024 | 1.3% | +3.0% |
| 2025 | 1.2% | -7.0% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | +28.8% | 0.9% | 1.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.3% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.1% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.3% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
More agriculture & rural data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
- Rural population, per capita 0.4404 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 347.82 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.8% (2025)
- Rural population 364.70 million (2025)
- Rural population 44.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.2% (2023)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0677 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.23 % change on previous year (2025)
All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan →
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Rural population growth in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan was 1.2% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The highest recorded value was 2.7% in 1990.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2013.
- How does Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan rank for rural population growth?
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan ranks 12th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 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.