Urbanization rate by global region 1800

In the year 1800, approximately five percent of the world's population lived in urban areas of 10,000 people or more. At this time, the world's population was just under one billion people, and the industrial revolution was in its early stages in Western Europe and North America. As industrialization spread across the world, urbanization rates rose accordingly. In 2021, the global urbanization rate was approximately 56 percent.

Share of the population living in towns of more than 10,000 people in selected countries or regions in the year 1800

Characteristic	Share of population living in urban centers
Rest of Eastern hemisphere	1.5%
Russia**	3%
North America	3%
Central America & Caribbean	3.5%
China*	3.5%
Eastern Europe/*	4%
World	5%
India	6%
South America	7%
Europe/*	8.5%
Japan	12%
Middle East	12%

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Release date

2009

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Region

Worldwide, China, India, Japan, Russia

Survey time period

1800

Supplementary notes

*Figures chosen for display purposes, the source gives estimate ranges as follows:
China: 3-4%
Europe: 8-9%
Eastern Europe: 4%

**The source gives separate figures for Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia; it is unclear whether there is any overlap between these figures, but it is possible that they are separate, and the figure for Europe refers to Western Europe only. A separate source (Maddison, 2006) gives an urbanization rate of 12.3% for Western Europe in 1820.

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