Urban population growth in Belize
Belize: Urban population growth was 0.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Belize, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, urban population growth in Belize stood at 0.9%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.7% on the previous year and down 38.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Belize peaked at 3.6% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2021.
Belize ranks 127th of 218 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth in Belize, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.5% | — |
| 1962 | 2.6% | +2.9% |
| 1963 | 2.8% | +8.2% |
| 1964 | 3.0% | +6.3% |
| 1965 | 3.1% | +3.0% |
| 1966 | 3.1% | +1.9% |
| 1967 | 3.2% | +0.7% |
| 1968 | 3.1% | -1.3% |
| 1969 | 2.9% | -6.9% |
| 1970 | 2.3% | -22.1% |
| 1971 | 1.6% | -29.9% |
| 1972 | 1.3% | -20.6% |
| 1973 | 1.0% | -17.5% |
| 1974 | 0.9% | -13.5% |
| 1975 | 1.2% | +28.9% |
| 1976 | 1.5% | +25.7% |
| 1977 | 1.4% | -1.4% |
| 1978 | 1.4% | -2.0% |
| 1979 | 1.5% | +4.5% |
| 1980 | 1.7% | +18.3% |
| 1981 | 1.8% | +4.8% |
| 1982 | 1.6% | -11.2% |
| 1983 | 1.4% | -11.4% |
| 1984 | 1.3% | -8.8% |
| 1985 | 1.2% | -5.7% |
| 1986 | 1.2% | -1.7% |
| 1987 | 1.3% | +3.6% |
| 1988 | 1.4% | +9.3% |
| 1989 | 1.6% | +13.6% |
| 1990 | 1.8% | +13.9% |
| 1991 | 2.0% | +13.8% |
| 1992 | 2.1% | +5.1% |
| 1993 | 2.1% | -0.5% |
| 1994 | 2.2% | +6.2% |
| 1995 | 2.6% | +17.6% |
| 1996 | 3.1% | +18.0% |
| 1997 | 3.5% | +11.4% |
| 1998 | 3.6% | +3.8% |
| 1999 | 3.5% | -2.4% |
| 2000 | 3.3% | -6.4% |
| 2001 | 3.0% | -9.4% |
| 2002 | 2.7% | -8.2% |
| 2003 | 2.6% | -6.5% |
| 2004 | 2.4% | -5.8% |
| 2005 | 2.3% | -5.0% |
| 2006 | 2.2% | -4.4% |
| 2007 | 2.1% | -3.6% |
| 2008 | 2.1% | -2.7% |
| 2009 | 2.0% | -1.7% |
| 2010 | 1.8% | -9.6% |
| 2011 | 1.6% | -10.8% |
| 2012 | 1.6% | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 1.6% | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 1.5% | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 1.5% | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 1.7% | +14.2% |
| 2017 | 1.7% | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 1.3% | -25.8% |
| 2019 | 0.9% | -32.0% |
| 2020 | 0.7% | -21.4% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | -20.0% |
| 2022 | 1.3% | +129.8% |
| 2023 | 1.6% | +28.1% |
| 2024 | 1.0% | -38.8% |
| 2025 | 0.9% | -4.7% |
Belize compared with similar countries
- Belize's 0.9% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.0%, 98% of the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Belize's 0.9% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.7%, 1.3× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth in Belize changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +129.8% | 0.5% | 1.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.9% | 2.5% | 3.2% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.4% | 0.9% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.7% | 1.8% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.5% | 0.9% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.0% | 0.5% | 1.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Belize
- 124 Norway 1.0% compare
- 125 Costa Rica 1.0% compare
- 126 Dominican Republic 1.0% compare
- 128 Cyprus 0.9% compare
- 129 Brunei 0.9% compare
- 130 Turks and Caicos Islands 0.9% compare
More climate change data for Belize
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 5.79 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 226.7 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 67.02 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 159.68 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 0.2529 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 5.7 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 45.12 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 38.74 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 6.38 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.1462 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Belize?
- Urban population growth in Belize was 0.9% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Belize?
- The highest recorded value was 3.6% in 1998.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Belize?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2021.
- How does Belize rank for urban population growth?
- Belize ranks 127th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Belize?
- Over the last ten years it is down 38.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Belize data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.