The column graph presents data on the growth of urban population in five different continents as well as worldwide for three different years, including projections for the year 2030. Overall, the percentage of global city dwellers has significantly increased, with a large proportion of the world’s population expected to reside in cities in the future.
As illustrated, in 1950, less than one-third of the global population lived in urban areas. The majority of city dwellers were in the Americas and Europe, while only 15-17% resided in cities in Asia and Africa. By 2007, around half of the global population lived in cities, with Europe and the Americas having eight out of ten people living in urban areas. In this year, over one-third of Africans and slightly over 40% of Asians lived in urban areas.
It is projected that by 2030, six out of ten people in the world will live in urban areas. In this year, more than 8 out of 10 people in the Americas and Europe will be city dwellers, while a similar ratio will be seen for African and Asian urban populations, where over half of the population will reside in cities.