The bar chart illustrates the proportion of people living in urban areas around the globe, Africa, Asia and Latin America in 1950 and 2000, and the expected figures for 2030.
Overall, there is a clear upward trend in urbanization in all the years, with Latin America consistently having highest percentage of people living in cities, which is expected to increase further in the future. In contrast, urban growth in Africa started at the lowest percentage, which doubled by 2000 and is projected to expand in future.
In 1950, only 30% of the world population accounted for cities, it rose by 18% in the next 50 years, which is forecasted to double by 2030. In Latin America, urbanization rate was 41% in the start, it sharply increased to 70% in 2000, making it the most urbanized area in the world. A slight increase of 10% is also predicted by 2030.
In the start, both Africa and Asia saw the lower population growth; however, this fraction rose substantially by 2000, making the proportion from around a quarter to 39% for both regions. Furthermore, this number is anticipated to rise to 57% for Asia, whereas 51% is the projected figure for Africa, making it the least urbanized area in the region.
