UN Global Urban Population Projection, 2015 Revision

According to the UN, the world's urban population will increase by about 60 percent by 2050, from 4 million people in 2015 to 6.3 million in 2050. In other words, by 2050, the UN expects that two out of three people in the world will live in an urban area. In contrast, during the early part of the twentieth century the majority of the world's population lived in rural areas. Some countries will remain rural population dominant, particularly in Africa. However, the UN expects that Africa will experience the fastest increase in urbanization, from 40 percent of the total population in 2015 to 56 percent in 2050.

The UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs Population Division has issued biennial estimates and projections of urban and rural populations by country and major urban agglomerations since 1988. The World Urbanization Prospects reports are used widely by international organizations, research centers, and the media. The UN 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects web site provides the main findings of the 2015 Revision, which are consistent with its total population projections, by country, as published in the 2014 Revision. 

Source: World Urbanization Prospects