Data Insights
Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing, published every few days.
UrbanizationFebruary 28, 2025
Bangladesh has been urbanizing much faster than its neighbors
The biggest migration story of the past few centuries has not been from country to country but from rural areas to cities.
In 1960, one-third of the world’s population lived in urban areas. This share is now closing in on 60%. By contrast, less than 4% of the global population are international migrants.
But some countries are urbanizing much more quickly than others. Bangladesh is one example of a country that has experienced much faster internal migration than its South Asian neighbors. You can see this on the chart.
In 1972, just 8% of people in Bangladesh lived in towns and cities. This share has more than quadrupled to 40%.
Explore more data on the global movement of populations from rural areas to cities →
April 05, 2024
The plurality of people in the world now live in cities
One of the big demographic trends in recent decades has been the shift from rural places to cities.
Until 2020, most people in the world lived in smaller urban settings like towns and suburbs, with populations between 5,000 and 50,000. Since then, cities with more than 50,000 people have become the most popular living areas worldwide, as shown in the chart.
Explore this data →