Rural population in South Asia
South Asia: Rural population was 1.09 billion in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in South Asia, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in South Asia is 1.09 billion, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in South Asia peaked at 1.09 billion in 2025 and was at its lowest, 425.05 million, in 1960.
South Asia ranks 9th of 49 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 469.69 million | 425.05 million | 513.92 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 569.09 million | 524.11 million | 614.83 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 686.08 million | 626.30 million | 748.66 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 826.33 million | 762.88 million | 889.24 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 950.84 million | 902.64 million | 990.05 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.03 billion | 997.55 million | 1.06 billion | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.08 billion | 1.07 billion | 1.09 billion | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Asia
- 6 Ethiopia 102.81 million compare
- 7 Nigeria 86.04 million compare
- 8 United States 67.70 million compare
- 9 Egypt 67.58 million compare
- 10 Vietnam 62.15 million compare
- 11 Democratic Republic of Congo 61.93 million compare
- 12 Philippines 51.65 million compare
More agriculture & rural data for South Asia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 714.12 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 15.6% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Rural population 64.2% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.0% (2024)
- Land under cereal production 119.96 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal production 457.55 million metric tons (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,814 kg per hectare (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 206.42 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in South Asia?
- Rural population in South Asia was 1.09 billion in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in South Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.09 billion in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in South Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 425.05 million in 1960.
- How does South Asia rank for rural population?
- South Asia ranks 9th out of 49 groups with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in South Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Asia 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.