Lower middle income Countries Ranked by Rural population share (2025)

Name: Lower middle income Countries 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

Papua New Guinea ranks #1 with 84.2% of population. Vanuatu is second with 77.7% of population, 8.4% behind. The top five are Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tajikistan, Eswatini and Timor-Leste. The median across all 47 is 49.1% of population; Lebanon is last at 9.04% of population. Papua New Guinea's figure has fallen 3% since 2001 (86.8% of population to 84.2% of population in 2025).

#1: Papua New Guinea · 84.2% of population
Median: 49.1% of population
Coverage: 47 Lower middle income countries
Data year: 2025
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: Rural population share (% of population). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Papua New Guinea 84.2; 2. Vanuatu 77.7; 3. Tajikistan 73.8; 4. Eswatini 73.3; 5. Timor-Leste 71.2; 6. Myanmar 69.4; 7. Solomon Islands 68.7; 8. Kenya 67.8; 9. Bangladesh 66.8; 10. Comoros 66.1.

Rural population share over time, top 5 (% of population). Papua New Guinea: 86.8 in 2001 to 84.2 in 2025; Vanuatu: 78.1 in 2001 to 77.7 in 2025; Tajikistan: 73.5 in 2001 to 73.8 in 2025; Eswatini: 77.3 in 2001 to 73.3 in 2025; Timor-Leste: 75.5 in 2001 to 71.2 in 2025.

Full ranking

Lower middle income Countries Ranked by Rural population share, 2025
Rank	Country	Rural population share (% of population)
1	Papua New Guinea	84.2
2	Vanuatu	77.7
3	Tajikistan	73.8
4	Eswatini	73.3
5	Timor-Leste	71.2
6	Myanmar	69.4
7	Solomon Islands	68.7
8	Kenya	67.8
9	Bangladesh	66.8
10	Comoros	66.1
11	Kyrgyz Republic	65.3
12	India	64.3
13	Tanzania	63.1
14	Guinea	61.5
15	Pakistan	60.5
16	Lao PDR	59.7
17	Zimbabwe	59.5
18	Cambodia	58.9
19	Egypt, Arab Rep.	57.1
20	Bhutan	56.6
21	Togo	55.6
22	Lesotho	55.3
23	Zambia	54.1
24	Namibia	49.1
25	Uzbekistan	49
26	Benin	46.6
27	Côte d'Ivoire	45.5
28	Haiti	44.4
29	Cameroon	44.3
30	Senegal	44.2
31	Ghana	41.1
32	Honduras	40.7
33	Nicaragua	40.6
34	Mauritania	38.5
35	Morocco	36.9
36	Kiribati	36.6
37	Nigeria	36.2
38	Congo, Rep.	35.9
39	Nepal	33
40	São Tomé and Principe	30.8
41	Tunisia	29.3
42	Angola	28.5
43	Bolivia	28.4
44	Djibouti	27
45	West Bank and Gaza	12.6
46	Venezuela, RB	10.7
47	Lebanon	9.04

About the top 10

#1 Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea ranks #1 on this list with 84.2% of population.

Capital: Port Moresby
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 10.76 million people (2025)
GDP: US$32.5 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$3,020 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 15.8% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in rural population share · #5 in water resources per capita · #6 in smoking prevalence.

Full country profile

#2 Vanuatu

Vanuatu ranks #2 on this list with 77.7% of population.

Capital: Port Vila
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 335,170 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.35 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$4,039 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 22.3% of population (2025)

Also ranks #6 in school enrolment (secondary) · #6 in completion rate (primary) · #9 in rural population share.

Full country profile

#3 Tajikistan

Tajikistan ranks #3 on this list with 73.8% of population.

Capital: Dushanbe
Continent: Asia
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 10.79 million people (2025)
GDP: US$17.66 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,637 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 26.2% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in livestock production index · #9 in gdp growth rate · #12 in gross savings rate.

Full country profile

#4 Eswatini

Eswatini ranks #4 on this list with 73.3% of population.

Capital: Mbabane, Lobamba
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 1.26 million people (2025)
GDP: US$5.16 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$4,108 (2025)
Life expectancy: 64.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 26.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in unemployment rate · #1 in hiv prevalence · #3 in youth unemployment rate.

Full country profile

#5 Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste ranks #5 on this list with 71.2% of population.

Capital: Dili
Continent: Asia
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 1.42 million people (2025)
GDP: US$1.9 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,341 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 28.8% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in smoking prevalence · #3 in government revenue share of gdp · #4 in prevalence of stunting (under-5).

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#6 Myanmar

Myanmar ranks #6 on this list with 69.4% of population.

Capital: Naypyidaw
Continent: Asia
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 54.85 million people (2025)
GDP: US$81.67 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,489 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 30.6% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw.

Also ranks #3 in smoking prevalence · #6 in refugee population by origin · #8 in manufacturing value added share of gdp.

Full country profile

#7 Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands ranks #7 on this list with 68.7% of population.

Capital: Honiara
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 838,650 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.75 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,086 (2025)
Life expectancy: 70.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 31.3% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in forest rents share of gdp · #2 in female labour force participation · #3 in labour force participation rate.

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#8 Kenya

Kenya ranks #8 on this list with 67.8% of population.

Capital: Nairobi
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 57.53 million people (2025)
GDP: US$135.94 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,363 (2025)
Life expectancy: 63.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 32.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Nairobi, Mombasa.

Also ranks #8 in prevalence of undernourishment · #8 in deposit interest rate · #12 in poverty headcount ratio.

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#9 Bangladesh

Bangladesh ranks #9 on this list with 66.8% of population.

Capital: Dhaka
Continent: Asia
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 175.69 million people (2025)
GDP: US$456.32 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,597 (2025)
Life expectancy: 74.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 33.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Dhaka, Chittagong, Gazipur.

Also ranks #1 in arable land share · #2 in irrigated land share · #2 in low-birthweight babies share.

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#10 Comoros

Comoros ranks #10 on this list with 66.1% of population.

Capital: Moroni
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 882,850 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.81 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,056 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67 years (2024)
Urban population: 33.9% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in low-birthweight babies share · #4 in agriculture value added share of gdp · #10 in agricultural land share.

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 Papua New Guinea

#2 Vanuatu

#3 Tajikistan

#4 Eswatini

#5 Timor-Leste

#6 Myanmar

#7 Solomon Islands

#8 Kenya

#9 Bangladesh

#10 Comoros

Related rankings

Source and method