Urban population growth in Namibia
Namibia: Urban population growth was 3.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population growth in Namibia, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, urban population growth in Namibia stood at 3.0%.
That represents a change of down 6.1% on the previous year and down 29.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Namibia peaked at 7.0% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 1.4%, in 1981.
Namibia ranks 46th of 218 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth in Namibia, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.0% | — |
| 1962 | 3.0% | -0.3% |
| 1963 | 3.0% | +1.7% |
| 1964 | 3.1% | +1.4% |
| 1965 | 3.1% | +1.2% |
| 1966 | 3.1% | +1.0% |
| 1967 | 3.2% | +2.0% |
| 1968 | 3.2% | +1.0% |
| 1969 | 3.2% | +0.8% |
| 1970 | 3.3% | +1.1% |
| 1971 | 3.3% | +0.2% |
| 1972 | 3.3% | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 3.3% | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 3.3% | -0.1% |
| 1975 | 3.3% | +1.5% |
| 1976 | 3.1% | -6.9% |
| 1977 | 2.9% | -6.0% |
| 1978 | 2.0% | -32.4% |
| 1979 | 1.9% | -4.2% |
| 1980 | 2.2% | +15.9% |
| 1981 | 1.4% | -35.3% |
| 1982 | 2.1% | +48.2% |
| 1983 | 3.0% | +43.3% |
| 1984 | 3.1% | +2.9% |
| 1985 | 3.3% | +6.1% |
| 1986 | 3.5% | +7.8% |
| 1987 | 3.7% | +5.2% |
| 1988 | 4.1% | +9.9% |
| 1989 | 7.0% | +70.5% |
| 1990 | 6.7% | -3.4% |
| 1991 | 4.1% | -39.4% |
| 1992 | 4.1% | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 4.5% | +9.4% |
| 1994 | 4.7% | +5.5% |
| 1995 | 4.8% | +1.3% |
| 1996 | 4.8% | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 4.8% | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 4.9% | +0.8% |
| 1999 | 4.8% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 4.7% | -3.0% |
| 2001 | 4.4% | -7.0% |
| 2002 | 4.1% | -5.5% |
| 2003 | 4.1% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 4.2% | +1.7% |
| 2006 | 4.2% | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 4.2% | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 4.1% | -1.6% |
| 2009 | 4.0% | -3.0% |
| 2010 | 3.8% | -4.3% |
| 2011 | 3.7% | -3.6% |
| 2012 | 4.0% | +7.8% |
| 2013 | 4.3% | +7.4% |
| 2014 | 4.2% | -1.4% |
| 2015 | 4.2% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 4.1% | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 4.1% | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 4.1% | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 4.0% | -1.3% |
| 2020 | 4.0% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 4.0% | -1.0% |
| 2022 | 3.7% | -6.6% |
| 2023 | 3.4% | -9.9% |
| 2024 | 3.1% | -6.6% |
| 2025 | 3.0% | -6.1% |
Namibia compared with similar countries
- Namibia's 3.0% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.7%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Namibia's 3.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.4%, 88% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth in Namibia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | +70.5% | 4.1% | 7.0% |
| 1982 | +48.2% | 1.4% | 2.1% |
| 1983 | +43.3% | 2.1% | 3.0% |
| 1991 | -39.4% | 6.7% | 4.1% |
| 1981 | -35.3% | 2.2% | 1.4% |
| 1978 | -32.4% | 2.9% | 2.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.1% | 3.0% | 3.2% | 9 |
| 1970s | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.3% | 1.4% | 7.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.8% | 4.1% | 6.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.2% | 4.0% | 4.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.0% | 3.7% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.5% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Namibia
More climate change data for Namibia
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 5.64 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,137 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 1,753 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 3,384 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 6.62 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 120.84 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 57.2 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 54.43 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 2.77 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.2054 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Namibia?
- Urban population growth in Namibia was 3.0% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Namibia?
- The highest recorded value was 7.0% in 1989.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Namibia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.4% in 1981.
- How does Namibia rank for urban population growth?
- Namibia ranks 46th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Namibia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Namibia 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.