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Countries With the Fastest Decline in Rural population (5-Year Change)

Change in Rural population over the five years to each country's latest year, as a percentage of the earlier value. Only countries that fell are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Netherlands fell the most: by 26.7%, from 1 million people to 734,610 people in the five years to 2025. Marshall Islands is second (−21.8%), followed by Kosovo (−21.1%). 87 countries fell over that period; the median change among them was −3.81%.

#1
Netherlands · −26.7%
Median
−3.81%
Coverage
87 countries
Data year
2025
Last updated
2026-11-14
Top 10: 5-year change (%)Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Netherlands -26.7; 2. Marshall Islands -21.8; 3. Kosovo -21.1; 4. Qatar -18.7; 5. Tuvalu -17.2; 6. Cabo Verde -15.5; 7. Switzerland -14.9; 8. Moldova -14.1; 9. Northern Mariana Islands -13.8; 10. Ukraine -13.4.Netherlands-26.7Marshall Islands-21.8Kosovo-21.1Qatar-18.7Tuvalu-17.2Cabo Verde-15.5Switzerland-14.9Moldova-14.1Northern Mariana Islands-13.8Ukraine-13.4
Top 10: 5-year change (%). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Netherlands -26.7; 2. Marshall Islands -21.8; 3. Kosovo -21.1; 4. Qatar -18.7; 5. Tuvalu -17.2; 6. Cabo Verde -15.5; 7. Switzerland -14.9; 8. Moldova -14.1; 9. Northern Mariana Islands -13.8; 10. Ukraine -13.4.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Decline in Rural population (5-Year Change), 2025
RankCountryFromTo5-year change (%)
1Netherlands1,002,300734,610−26.7%
2Marshall Islands9,7007,581−21.8%
3Kosovo980,520773,840−21.1%
4Qatar23,42119,042−18.7%
5Tuvalu3,9603,280−17.2%
6Cabo Verde139,560117,960−15.5%
7Switzerland1,525,4001,297,700−14.9%
8Moldova1,545,9001,328,200−14.1%
9Northern Mariana Islands3,9493,406−13.8%
10Ukraine13,679,00011,852,000−13.4%
11Turks and Caicos Islands3,0202,626−13%
12Thailand30,637,00026,643,000−13%
13Jordan888,590782,430−11.9%
14Albania1,083,700966,350−10.8%
15Belarus2,083,4001,863,100−10.6%
16Bosnia and Herzegovina1,650,6001,485,500−10%
17Dominica19,02417,136−9.92%
18Lebanon585,670528,770−9.72%
19Greenland7,1686,494−9.4%
20Luxembourg38,70735,144−9.21%
21Serbia2,675,3002,446,900−8.54%
22Gabon224,170205,180−8.47%
23Japan10,377,0009,499,100−8.46%
24Puerto Rico (US)196,510180,250−8.27%
25Virgin Islands (US)5,2114,786−8.16%
26China514,720,000473,410,000−8.03%
27Peru5,409,6004,980,300−7.94%
28Brazil27,311,00025,160,000−7.88%
29Costa Rica1,131,7001,044,700−7.69%
30Sweden1,248,4001,157,400−7.29%
31El Salvador1,679,8001,558,000−7.25%
32Paraguay2,237,6002,076,600−7.2%
33Greece2,320,9002,163,500−6.78%
34North Macedonia720,930675,720−6.27%
35Uruguay156,360147,110−5.92%
36Chile2,267,3002,149,400−5.2%
37Jamaica1,214,1001,151,100−5.19%
38Bulgaria1,747,5001,661,500−4.92%
39San Marino1,008959−4.86%
40Kiribati52,44249,975−4.7%
41St. Vincent and the Grenadines54,53251,979−4.68%
42Latvia605,840579,600−4.33%
43Croatia1,701,6001,635,200−3.9%
44Malaysia8,455,0008,132,800−3.81%
45Argentina3,640,7003,506,700−3.68%
46Fiji391,730377,510−3.63%
47St. Lucia132,350127,730−3.49%
48Indonesia120,150,000116,020,000−3.44%
49Poland15,054,00014,543,000−3.39%
50Russian Federation36,757,00035,519,000−3.37%
51Algeria11,868,00011,470,000−3.35%
52Finland1,488,3001,438,400−3.35%
53Germany15,410,00014,913,000−3.23%
54Lesotho1,349,6001,307,600−3.11%
55Mongolia1,061,7001,029,800−3%
56Bhutan464,400450,680−2.95%
57Hungary2,872,9002,788,300−2.94%
58British Virgin Islands17,39016,928−2.66%
59Cuba2,558,5002,490,700−2.65%
60Mexico27,036,00026,335,000−2.59%
61Korea, Dem. People's Rep.9,765,7009,515,100−2.57%
62Lithuania915,470893,160−2.44%
63Iran, Islamic Rep.21,406,00020,908,000−2.33%
64Denmark685,810670,270−2.27%
65Türkiye9,230,4009,022,400−2.25%
66Tunisia3,699,5003,617,800−2.21%
67Sri Lanka17,609,00017,307,000−1.72%
68Palau3,7223,659−1.69%
69Viet Nam63,192,00062,148,000−1.65%
70Montenegro217,750214,300−1.58%
71Mauritius770,230758,220−1.56%
72Venezuela, RB3,089,1003,045,100−1.42%
73Italy18,118,00017,863,000−1.41%
74Tonga82,58081,794−0.952%
75Norway930,490921,830−0.931%
76Haiti5,326,1005,284,500−0.781%
77Slovak Republic2,552,1002,534,000−0.709%
78Barbados114,650113,900−0.654%
79Austria2,805,2002,788,700−0.588%
80Curaçao13,39913,325−0.552%
81St. Kitts and Nevis32,11931,954−0.514%
82Nepal9,818,2009,774,100−0.449%
83Romania9,129,4009,096,800−0.357%
84Korea, Rep.9,757,7009,730,100−0.283%
85Estonia400,430400,090−0.085%
86Nigeria86,099,00086,043,000−0.065%
87Slovenia938,010937,830−0.019%

About the top 10

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

Related rankings

Source and method

Change in Rural population over the five years to each country's latest year, as a percentage of the earlier value. Only countries that fell are listed.

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

The World Bank: Rural 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 (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.