Rural population in Liberia
Liberia: Rural population was 2.52 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Liberia, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in Liberia is 2.52 million, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and up 9.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Liberia peaked at 2.52 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 821,738, in 1991.
Liberia ranks 97th of 218 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.
Rural population in Liberia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 927,667 | — |
| 1961 | 942,954 | +1.6% |
| 1962 | 958,532 | +1.7% |
| 1963 | 974,088 | +1.6% |
| 1964 | 989,764 | +1.6% |
| 1965 | 1.01 million | +1.6% |
| 1966 | 1.02 million | +1.6% |
| 1967 | 1.04 million | +1.5% |
| 1968 | 1.05 million | +1.5% |
| 1969 | 1.07 million | +1.5% |
| 1970 | 1.08 million | +1.5% |
| 1971 | 1.10 million | +1.4% |
| 1972 | 1.11 million | +1.4% |
| 1973 | 1.13 million | +1.4% |
| 1974 | 1.15 million | +1.4% |
| 1975 | 1.16 million | +1.3% |
| 1976 | 1.18 million | +1.2% |
| 1977 | 1.19 million | +1.2% |
| 1978 | 1.21 million | +1.3% |
| 1979 | 1.22 million | +1.3% |
| 1980 | 1.24 million | +1.4% |
| 1981 | 1.26 million | +1.4% |
| 1982 | 1.27 million | +1.5% |
| 1983 | 1.30 million | +1.8% |
| 1984 | 1.32 million | +2.1% |
| 1985 | 1.36 million | +2.4% |
| 1986 | 1.46 million | +7.7% |
| 1987 | 1.41 million | -3.5% |
| 1988 | 1.44 million | +1.9% |
| 1989 | 1.46 million | +1.9% |
| 1990 | 1.26 million | -13.9% |
| 1991 | 821,738 | -34.8% |
| 1992 | 902,842 | +9.9% |
| 1993 | 1.02 million | +12.9% |
| 1994 | 1.11 million | +9.1% |
| 1995 | 1.20 million | +8.2% |
| 1996 | 1.27 million | +5.8% |
| 1997 | 1.37 million | +8.0% |
| 1998 | 1.52 million | +10.3% |
| 1999 | 1.60 million | +5.2% |
| 2000 | 1.65 million | +3.2% |
| 2001 | 1.68 million | +2.3% |
| 2002 | 1.72 million | +1.9% |
| 2003 | 1.72 million | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1.72 million | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 1.79 million | +3.8% |
| 2006 | 1.88 million | +5.0% |
| 2007 | 1.96 million | +4.4% |
| 2008 | 2.02 million | +3.2% |
| 2009 | 2.07 million | +2.2% |
| 2010 | 2.10 million | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 2.17 million | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 2.22 million | +2.6% |
| 2013 | 2.25 million | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 2.27 million | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 2.30 million | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 2.32 million | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 2.34 million | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 2.36 million | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 2.38 million | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 2.40 million | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 2.42 million | +1.0% |
| 2022 | 2.45 million | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 2.47 million | +1.0% |
| 2024 | 2.50 million | +1.0% |
| 2025 | 2.52 million | +0.9% |
Liberia compared with similar countries
- Liberia's 2.52 million is below the median for low income countries, which is 15.21 million, 17% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Liberia's 2.52 million is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 9.41 million, 27% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Rural population in Liberia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | -34.8% | 1.26 million | 821,738 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 997,822 | 927,667 | 1.07 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.15 million | 1.08 million | 1.22 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.35 million | 1.24 million | 1.46 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.21 million | 821,738 | 1.60 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.82 million | 1.65 million | 2.07 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.27 million | 2.10 million | 2.38 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.46 million | 2.40 million | 2.52 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Liberia
More agriculture & rural data for Liberia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 5.94 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.3265 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 298.89 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.8615 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.4392 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 32.7% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 32.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 63.7% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.7% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Liberia?
- Rural population in Liberia was 2.52 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Liberia?
- The highest recorded value was 2.52 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Liberia?
- The lowest recorded value was 821,738 in 1991.
- How does Liberia rank for rural population?
- Liberia ranks 97th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Liberia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Liberia 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.