Urban population (% of total population)

Indicator id: urban_population_share · Unit: % · Coverage: 1960-2024

Share of the population living in areas classified as urban according to each country's national statistical office definition.

Sources

• World Bank (preferred) -- dataset WDI, code SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org)
• Our World in Data -- dataset share-of-population-urban, code share__area_type_urban__data_type_estimates (https://ourworldindata.org)

Reconciliation note: Both trace to the UN World Urbanization Prospects revision; matched World Bank exactly for Nepal's most recent shared year (66.999%, 2025).

Caveats

National urban/rural definitions vary by country; Nepal's 2017 reclassification of many rural VDCs into urban municipalities caused a step change unrelated to actual migration.

Taxonomy

SDG: SDG 11.3 -- Enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization
Topic: Urban Development
Themes: rural

Also known as

"urbanisation", "urbanization", "how urban is Nepal", "share living in cities", "urban share"

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