Rural population in Canada
Canada: Rural population was 7.13 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Canada, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in Canada is 7.13 million, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Canada peaked at 7.14 million in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.13 million, in 1970.
Canada ranks 71st of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.36 million | 5.14 million | 5.54 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 5.56 million | 5.13 million | 5.90 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.14 million | 5.96 million | 6.40 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.56 million | 6.49 million | 6.60 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.49 million | 6.43 million | 6.56 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.67 million | 6.46 million | 6.87 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.97 million | 6.82 million | 7.14 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Canada
- 68 Tajikistan 7.96 million compare
- 69 Kazakhstan 7.84 million compare
- 70 Syria 7.15 million compare
- 72 Benin 6.91 million compare
- 73 Ecuador 6.70 million compare
- 74 Saudi Arabia 5.69 million compare
More agriculture & rural data for Canada
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 42.53 billion current US$ (2022)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.9% (2022)
- Rural population growth -0.1% (2025)
- Rural population 17.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.9% (2022)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.9% (2022)
- Land under cereal production 16.03 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal production 59.24 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Canada?
- Rural population in Canada was 7.13 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 7.14 million in 2024.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.13 million in 1970.
- How does Canada rank for rural population?
- Canada ranks 71st out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural 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. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.