Countries in Europe Ranked by Rural population share (2025)

Name: Countries in Europe Ranked by Rural population share
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rural population share: each country's latest value (2020–2025), ranked from highest to lowest. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Liechtenstein ranks #1 with 85.4% of population. Channel Islands is second with 67.4% of population, 26.7% behind. The top five are Liechtenstein, Channel Islands, Faroe Islands, Moldova and Kosovo. The median across all 49 is 29.3% of population; Monaco is last at 0% of population.

#1: Liechtenstein · 85.4% of population
Median: 29.3% of population
Coverage: 49 countries in Europe
Data year: 2025
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: Rural population share (% of population). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Liechtenstein 85.4; 2. Channel Islands 67.4; 3. Faroe Islands 60.4; 4. Moldova 56.3; 5. Kosovo 49.1; 6. Isle of Man 47.9; 7. Romania 47.8; 8. Bosnia and Herzegovina 47.3; 9. Slovak Republic 46.8; 10. Slovenia 44.

Rural population share over time, top 5 (% of population). Liechtenstein: 85.1 in 2001 to 85.4 in 2025; Channel Islands: 69.5 in 2001 to 67.4 in 2025; Faroe Islands: 64.1 in 2001 to 60.4 in 2025; Moldova: 60.3 in 2001 to 56.3 in 2025; Kosovo: 62.5 in 2001 to 49.1 in 2025.

Full ranking

Countries in Europe Ranked by Rural population share, 2025
Rank	Country	Rural population share (% of population)
1	Liechtenstein	85.4
2	Channel Islands	67.4
3	Faroe Islands	60.4
4	Moldova	56.3
5	Kosovo	49.1
6	Isle of Man	47.9
7	Romania	47.8
8	Bosnia and Herzegovina	47.3
9	Slovak Republic	46.8
10	Slovenia	44
11	Croatia	42.2
12	Albania	41.1
13	Poland	39.9
14	Portugal	38.5
15	Serbia	37.4
16	North Macedonia	37.1
17	Ireland	35.4
18	Montenegro	34.4
19	Cyprus	33.3
20	Latvia	31.4
21	Lithuania	30.9
22	Ukraine	30.4
23	Italy	30.3
24	Austria	30.3
25	Hungary	29.3
26	Estonia	29.3
27	Czechia	27.1
28	Bulgaria	25.8
29	Finland	25.5
30	Russian Federation	24.7
31	France	21.2
32	Greece	20.8
33	Belarus	20.5
34	Spain	19.5
35	Germany	17.9
36	United Kingdom	16.7
37	Norway	16.4
38	Switzerland	14.3
39	Belgium	12.3
40	Denmark	11.2
41	Andorra	11.1
42	Sweden	10.9
43	Iceland	5.78
44	Luxembourg	5.12
45	Malta	4.32
46	Netherlands	4.06
47	San Marino	2.81
48	Gibraltar	0
49	Monaco	0

About the top 10

#1 Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein ranks #1 on this list with 85.4% of population.

Capital: Vaduz
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 41,024 people (2025)
GDP: US$8.91 billion (2024)
GDP per person: US$220,170 (2024)
Life expectancy: 84.2 years (2024)
Urban population: 14.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in rural population share · #1 in researchers in r&d per million · #2 in gdp per capita.

Full country profile

#2 Channel Islands

Channel Islands ranks #2 on this list with 67.4% of population.

Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 168,470 people (2025)
GDP: US$12.51 billion (2023)
GDP per person: US$74,586 (2023)
Life expectancy: 81.2 years (2024)
Urban population: 32.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #5 in services value added share of gdp · #13 in population density · #15 in gdp per capita.

Full country profile

#3 Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands ranks #3 on this list with 60.4% of population.

Capital: Tórshavn
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 54,900 people (2025)
GDP: US$4.05 billion (2024)
GDP per person: US$74,175 (2024)
Life expectancy: 83.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 39.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #9 in fertiliser consumption · #13 in gni per capita · #16 in gdp per capita.

Full country profile

#4 Moldova

Moldova ranks #4 on this list with 56.3% of population.

Capital: Chișinău
Continent: Europe
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 2.36 million people (2025)
GDP: US$20.35 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$8,622 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 43.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in real effective exchange rate index · #2 in female population share · #5 in arable land share.

Full country profile

#5 Kosovo

Kosovo ranks #5 on this list with 49.1% of population.

Continent: Europe
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 1.58 million people (2025)
GDP: US$12.46 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$7,899 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78.2 years (2024)
Urban population: 50.9% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in firms using banks to finance investment share · #13 in gross capital formation rate · #32 in population ages 15-64 share.

Full country profile

#6 Isle of Man

Isle of Man ranks #6 on this list with 47.9% of population.

Capital: Douglas
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 84,118 people (2025)
GDP: US$7.58 billion (2023)
GDP per person: US$90,015 (2023)
Life expectancy: 81.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 52.1% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in services value added share of gdp · #8 in gni per capita · #10 in age dependency ratio (old).

Full country profile

#7 Romania

Romania ranks #7 on this list with 47.8% of population.

Capital: Bucharest
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 19.02 million people (2025)
GDP: US$428.68 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$22,538 (2025)
Life expectancy: 76.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 52.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Bucharest.

Also ranks #1 in alcohol consumption per capita · #8 in hospital beds per 10,000 · #13 in death rate.

Full country profile Weather in Bucharest (Purr Weather)

#8 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks #8 on this list with 47.3% of population.

Capital: Sarajevo
Continent: Europe
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 3.14 million people (2025)
GDP: US$32.6 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$10,382 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78 years (2024)
Urban population: 52.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #6 in time to start a business (days) · #7 in death rate · #11 in smoking prevalence.

Full country profile

#9 Slovak Republic

Slovak Republic ranks #9 on this list with 46.8% of population.

Capital: Bratislava
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 5.41 million people (2025)
GDP: US$154.53 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$28,544 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 53.2% of population (2025)

Also ranks #13 in trade share of gdp · #16 in government revenue share of gdp · #17 in tourism arrivals.

Full country profile

#10 Slovenia

Slovenia ranks #10 on this list with 44% of population.

Capital: Ljubljana
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 2.13 million people (2025)
GDP: US$79.65 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$37,376 (2025)
Life expectancy: 82.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 56% of population (2025)

Also ranks #8 in government revenue share of gdp · #9 in income share of poorest 10% · #9 in bank accounts share (adults).

Full country profile

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Rural population share: each country's latest value (2020–2025), ranked from highest to lowest.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Rural population (% of total population): World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), note: World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospe.

Values are shown as published. Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Liechtenstein

#2 Channel Islands

#3 Faroe Islands

#4 Moldova

#5 Kosovo

#6 Isle of Man

#7 Romania

#8 Bosnia and Herzegovina

#9 Slovak Republic

#10 Slovenia

Related rankings

Source and method