Urban population growth in Chile
Chile: Urban population growth was 0.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Chile, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
Chile recorded 0.7% for urban population growth in 2025.
That represents a change of down 7.3% on the previous year and down 42.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Chile peaked at 3.3% in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.6%, in 2021.
That places Chile 144th out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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 Chile, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.3% | — |
| 1962 | 3.2% | -2.5% |
| 1963 | 3.1% | -2.3% |
| 1964 | 3.1% | -2.8% |
| 1965 | 3.0% | -3.2% |
| 1966 | 2.9% | -3.0% |
| 1967 | 2.8% | -2.9% |
| 1968 | 2.7% | -2.8% |
| 1969 | 2.6% | -2.3% |
| 1970 | 2.6% | -2.2% |
| 1971 | 2.6% | -0.8% |
| 1972 | 2.6% | +0.3% |
| 1973 | 2.6% | -0.4% |
| 1974 | 2.5% | -1.5% |
| 1975 | 2.5% | -1.9% |
| 1976 | 2.4% | -2.3% |
| 1977 | 2.3% | -3.2% |
| 1978 | 2.2% | -4.2% |
| 1979 | 2.1% | -5.0% |
| 1980 | 2.0% | -5.2% |
| 1981 | 1.9% | -6.3% |
| 1982 | 1.7% | -7.4% |
| 1983 | 1.7% | -3.7% |
| 1984 | 1.7% | -0.8% |
| 1985 | 1.7% | -0.2% |
| 1986 | 1.7% | +0.3% |
| 1987 | 1.7% | +1.5% |
| 1988 | 1.7% | +2.1% |
| 1989 | 1.8% | +1.7% |
| 1990 | 1.8% | +2.3% |
| 1991 | 1.8% | +1.3% |
| 1992 | 1.8% | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 1.8% | +1.4% |
| 1994 | 1.9% | +2.2% |
| 1995 | 1.9% | +1.0% |
| 1996 | 1.9% | -0.9% |
| 1997 | 1.8% | -3.6% |
| 1998 | 1.8% | -3.1% |
| 1999 | 1.7% | -4.9% |
| 2000 | 1.5% | -7.8% |
| 2001 | 1.4% | -8.7% |
| 2002 | 1.2% | -11.8% |
| 2003 | 1.1% | -9.5% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | -4.7% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | -2.8% |
| 2006 | 1.0% | -2.4% |
| 2007 | 1.0% | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 1.0% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 1.1% | +1.4% |
| 2010 | 1.1% | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 1.1% | +2.6% |
| 2014 | 1.1% | +7.3% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | +4.3% |
| 2016 | 1.4% | +17.0% |
| 2017 | 1.8% | +27.1% |
| 2018 | 2.0% | +10.8% |
| 2019 | 1.8% | -9.3% |
| 2020 | 1.1% | -39.2% |
| 2021 | 0.6% | -41.6% |
| 2022 | 0.7% | +9.0% |
| 2023 | 0.7% | +6.7% |
| 2024 | 0.7% | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 0.7% | -7.3% |
Chile compared with similar countries
- Chile's 0.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.6%, 1.1× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Chile's 0.7% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.7%, 93% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth in Chile 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | -41.6% | 1.1% | 0.6% |
| 2020 | -39.2% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| 2017 | +27.1% | 1.4% | 1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.3% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.3% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Chile
More climate change data for Chile
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 306.17 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 15,030 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 4,258 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 10,772 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 16.07 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 384.71 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 2,205 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 2,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 189.84 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 7.61 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Chile?
- Urban population growth in Chile was 0.7% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Chile?
- The highest recorded value was 3.3% in 1961.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Chile?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6% in 2021.
- How does Chile rank for urban population growth?
- Chile ranks 144th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Chile?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Chile 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.