This table provides information on the changes in the urban population ratios of four Asian countries from 1970 to 2020, and also predicts the data on urban population ratio changes up to 2040.
Overall, the urban populations of the four countries on the chart are all showing an upward trend. However, the urban population ratios of Malaysia and Indonesia are slowing down in terms of growth speed, while the Philippines’ urban population ratio, after a slow decline from 1990 to 2020, shows a steady increase. Thailand’s urban population ratio did not show significant growth from 1990 to 2020 but became the country with the fastest urban population ratio increase among the four after 2020. Moreover, throughout these years, Malaysia’s urban population ratio was the highest among the four countries, except for in 1970 and 1990, when it was slightly less than that of the Philippines.
Observing the details, we find that Malaysia’s urban population ratio increased from 30% in 1970 to over 80% by 2040. The trend in Indonesia is almost identical to Malaysia’s, rapidly growing from about 15% in 1970 to about 56% by 2040. Although the urban population ratio of the Philippines in 1970 (31%) was not much different from Malaysia’s, and was even slightly higher, it fell significantly behind Malaysia after 1990 and was overtaken by Indonesia, which had the lowest starting point, by 2010. The increase in Thailand’s urban population ratio shows a phased pattern. From 1970 to 1990, the urban population ratio increased from about 20% to about 30%. It then almost stagnated for 30 years but will steadily rise to 42% over the next 40 years.