The two charts illustrate the fluctuation of urban and rural populations in less developed countries and more developed countries between 1950 and 2050.
Overall, urban populations are increasing in both regions, particularly in less developed countries, while rural populations are either stabilizing or decreasing.
Regarding less developed regions, the number of rural inhabitants was dominant in 1950, standing at over 1 billion, and rose significantly to 3 billion by 1990. After this point, the figure is projected to remain relatively stable before experiencing a slight decline, reaching around 3 billion by 2050. In contrast, the urban population saw a dramatic growth, from approximately 200 million in 1950 to about 3.3 billion in 2010. This upward trend is expected to continue to rise and is anticipated to peak at over 5,000 million in 2050.
In more developed regions, both the share of urban and rural residents began the same, with approximately 500 million. City dwellers witnessed a rise, growing continuously up to 1,000 by the end of the period. However, rural residents dropped steadily over 20 years, hitting a low of 100 citizens in 2050.