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

Change in Urban 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

St. Martin (French part) fell the most: by 21.5%, from 31,786 people to 24,941 people in the five years to 2025. Marshall Islands is second (−13%), followed by Ukraine (−12.5%). 34 countries fell over that period; the median change among them was −2.01%.

#1
St. Martin (French part) · −21.5%
Median
−2.01%
Coverage
34 countries
Data year
2025
Last updated
2026-11-14
Top 10: 5-year change (%)Bar chart of the top 10: 1. St. Martin (French part) -21.5; 2. Marshall Islands -13; 3. Ukraine -12.5; 4. American Samoa -9.87; 5. Northern Mariana Islands -7.9; 6. Moldova -5.23; 7. Tonga -5.09; 8. Albania -4.26; 9. Tuvalu -3.53; 10. Serbia -2.88.St. Martin (French part)-21.5Marshall Islands-13Ukraine-12.5American Samoa-9.87Northern Mariana Islands-7.9Moldova-5.23Tonga-5.09Albania-4.26Tuvalu-3.53Serbia-2.88
Top 10: 5-year change (%). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. St. Martin (French part) -21.5; 2. Marshall Islands -13; 3. Ukraine -12.5; 4. American Samoa -9.87; 5. Northern Mariana Islands -7.9; 6. Moldova -5.23; 7. Tonga -5.09; 8. Albania -4.26; 9. Tuvalu -3.53; 10. Serbia -2.88.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Decline in Urban population (5-Year Change), 2025
RankCountryFromTo5-year change (%)
1St. Martin (French part)31,78624,941−21.5%
2Marshall Islands33,00628,701−13%
3Ukraine31,001,00027,129,000−12.5%
4American Samoa41,11537,059−9.87%
5Northern Mariana Islands43,57940,135−7.9%
6Moldova1,089,3001,032,300−5.23%
7Tonga23,12421,948−5.09%
8Albania1,444,8001,383,200−4.26%
9Tuvalu6,4396,212−3.53%
10Serbia4,223,9004,102,300−2.88%
11Puerto Rico (US)3,085,1003,004,600−2.61%
12Poland22,462,00021,893,000−2.53%
13St. Vincent and the Grenadines48,99447,945−2.14%
14Romania10,136,0009,923,400−2.1%
15Mauritius495,780485,520−2.07%
16Virgin Islands (US)101,08099,006−2.05%
17Latvia1,294,6001,268,200−2.04%
18Cuba8,617,9008,446,500−1.99%
19San Marino33,76233,150−1.81%
20Japan115,880,000113,870,000−1.73%
21Greece8,377,7008,250,400−1.52%
22Hungary6,797,5006,726,000−1.05%
23Belarus7,296,6007,222,900−1.01%
24Slovak Republic2,906,7002,879,800−0.925%
25Kosovo809,630803,040−0.814%
26Bulgaria4,803,2004,771,800−0.654%
27Italy41,321,00041,053,000−0.649%
28Palau14,07014,004−0.469%
29Russian Federation108,490,000107,990,000−0.461%
30Korea, Rep.42,079,00041,954,000−0.297%
31Aruba67,32767,173−0.229%
32Uruguay3,242,6003,237,600−0.154%
33Isle of Man43,87443,856−0.041%
34Montenegro408,840408,830−0.0024%

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 Urban 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.URB.TOTL. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Urban 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.