Rural population in Nepal
Nepal: Rural population was 33.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Nepal, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
Nepal recorded 33.0% for rural population in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Nepal peaked at 96.5% in 1960 and was at its lowest, 33.0%, in 2025.
That places Nepal 119th out of 217 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Rural population in Nepal, year by year
| Year | % of total population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 96.5% | — |
| 1961 | 96.4% | -0.1% |
| 1962 | 96.4% | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 96.3% | -0.0% |
| 1964 | 96.3% | -0.0% |
| 1965 | 96.3% | -0.0% |
| 1966 | 96.2% | -0.0% |
| 1967 | 96.2% | -0.0% |
| 1968 | 96.2% | -0.0% |
| 1969 | 96.1% | -0.0% |
| 1970 | 96.1% | -0.1% |
| 1971 | 96.0% | -0.1% |
| 1972 | 95.7% | -0.3% |
| 1973 | 94.9% | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 93.8% | -1.1% |
| 1975 | 92.5% | -1.4% |
| 1976 | 91.0% | -1.6% |
| 1977 | 89.5% | -1.7% |
| 1978 | 88.0% | -1.7% |
| 1979 | 86.6% | -1.6% |
| 1980 | 85.4% | -1.4% |
| 1981 | 84.5% | -1.0% |
| 1982 | 83.9% | -0.7% |
| 1983 | 83.4% | -0.6% |
| 1984 | 82.9% | -0.6% |
| 1985 | 82.5% | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 82.1% | -0.5% |
| 1987 | 81.7% | -0.5% |
| 1988 | 81.3% | -0.5% |
| 1989 | 80.8% | -0.6% |
| 1990 | 80.2% | -0.7% |
| 1991 | 79.6% | -0.8% |
| 1992 | 78.8% | -1.0% |
| 1993 | 78.0% | -1.1% |
| 1994 | 77.0% | -1.3% |
| 1995 | 75.9% | -1.4% |
| 1996 | 74.7% | -1.6% |
| 1997 | 73.4% | -1.7% |
| 1998 | 72.0% | -1.9% |
| 1999 | 70.5% | -2.1% |
| 2000 | 68.9% | -2.3% |
| 2001 | 67.2% | -2.5% |
| 2002 | 65.0% | -3.3% |
| 2003 | 62.0% | -4.6% |
| 2004 | 58.4% | -5.8% |
| 2005 | 54.5% | -6.7% |
| 2006 | 50.5% | -7.3% |
| 2007 | 46.6% | -7.7% |
| 2008 | 43.1% | -7.6% |
| 2009 | 40.1% | -6.9% |
| 2010 | 38.0% | -5.4% |
| 2011 | 36.9% | -3.0% |
| 2012 | 36.3% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 35.9% | -1.3% |
| 2014 | 35.4% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 35.0% | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 34.7% | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 34.4% | -0.8% |
| 2018 | 34.2% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 34.0% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 33.9% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 33.9% | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 33.7% | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 33.5% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 33.2% | -0.7% |
| 2025 | 33.0% | -0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 96.3% | 96.1% | 96.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 92.4% | 86.6% | 96.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 82.8% | 80.8% | 85.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 76.0% | 70.5% | 80.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 55.6% | 40.1% | 68.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.5% | 34.0% | 38.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 33.5% | 33.0% | 33.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More agriculture & rural data for Nepal
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 4.5 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2156 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 331.1 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.7937 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.33 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 21.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 21.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2022)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Nepal?
- Rural population in Nepal was 33.0% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 96.5% in 1960.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 33.0% in 2025.
- How does Nepal rank for rural population?
- Nepal ranks 119th out of 217 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population (% of total population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.