Rural population growth in Zambia
Zambia: Rural population growth was 1.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population growth in Zambia, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
Zambia recorded 1.9% for rural population growth in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.8% on the previous year and down 20.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Zambia peaked at 3.7% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 1967.
Zambia ranks 20th of 209 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Rural population growth in Zambia, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.0% | — |
| 1962 | 2.0% | -1.3% |
| 1963 | 1.9% | -2.0% |
| 1964 | 1.6% | -17.3% |
| 1965 | 1.2% | -27.2% |
| 1966 | 0.9% | -20.7% |
| 1967 | 0.8% | -9.3% |
| 1968 | 1.0% | +13.0% |
| 1969 | 1.2% | +27.9% |
| 1970 | 1.2% | -4.0% |
| 1971 | 0.9% | -21.0% |
| 1972 | 0.9% | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 1.0% | +6.1% |
| 1974 | 1.1% | +10.5% |
| 1975 | 1.2% | +15.2% |
| 1976 | 1.4% | +16.0% |
| 1977 | 1.7% | +15.7% |
| 1978 | 1.9% | +16.6% |
| 1979 | 2.3% | +16.8% |
| 1980 | 2.7% | +18.3% |
| 1981 | 3.1% | +13.8% |
| 1982 | 3.2% | +5.9% |
| 1983 | 3.3% | +1.0% |
| 1984 | 3.1% | -3.9% |
| 1985 | 3.1% | -1.9% |
| 1986 | 3.1% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 3.0% | -2.7% |
| 1988 | 2.9% | -4.4% |
| 1989 | 2.8% | -3.3% |
| 1990 | 2.7% | -2.6% |
| 1991 | 2.7% | -1.6% |
| 1992 | 2.7% | +0.4% |
| 1993 | 2.7% | +1.4% |
| 1994 | 2.8% | +2.2% |
| 1995 | 2.8% | +2.6% |
| 1996 | 3.1% | +10.2% |
| 1997 | 3.5% | +12.7% |
| 1998 | 3.7% | +3.6% |
| 1999 | 3.5% | -3.0% |
| 2000 | 3.3% | -7.6% |
| 2001 | 3.0% | -8.3% |
| 2002 | 2.8% | -7.3% |
| 2003 | 2.6% | -6.4% |
| 2004 | 2.5% | -3.5% |
| 2005 | 2.5% | -0.0% |
| 2006 | 2.6% | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 2.6% | +1.5% |
| 2008 | 2.7% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 2.7% | +0.6% |
| 2010 | 2.7% | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 2.6% | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 2.6% | -2.6% |
| 2013 | 2.5% | -1.5% |
| 2014 | 2.5% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 2.4% | -2.0% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 2.4% | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 2.3% | -2.5% |
| 2019 | 2.3% | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | -2.4% |
| 2021 | 2.2% | -3.9% |
| 2022 | 2.1% | -2.0% |
| 2023 | 2.0% | -4.5% |
| 2024 | 2.0% | -0.5% |
| 2025 | 1.9% | -2.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.4% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.4% | 0.9% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.7% | 2.5% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.5% | 2.3% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More agriculture & rural data for Zambia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 65.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0411 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 54.11 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0004 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5408 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture share gdp 4.11 (2025)
- Value added in the agricultural sector as of gdp vs gdp per capita 4.11 (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Zambia?
- Rural population growth in Zambia was 1.9% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 1998.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 1967.
- How does Zambia rank for rural population growth?
- Zambia ranks 20th out of 209 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia 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.