Since 1960, the share of people living in rural areas has steadily declined. Until 2008, the majority of the world’s population still lived in rural regions, but rising urbanization has since shifted that balance. Today, rural dwellers make up less than half of the global population. Still, as of 2024, roughly 3.44 billion people — nearly 44% of the world’s population — continue to live in rural areas.
The decline in the share of rural populations — and the corresponding rise in urbanization— is a global trend seen across all regions. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, rural areas still house the majority of the population. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to become predominantly urban by 2036, while South Asia is expected to reach this milestone a decade later, by 2046
Rural populations remain disproportionately affected by poverty. Currently 80% of the poorest people who live on less than $2.15 per day live in rural areas. Achieving rural prosperity globally requires ensuring access to essential infrastructure services such as clean drinking water, modern cooking technologies, and reliable electricity.
Investing in rural infrastructure boosts productivity and helps shift economies beyond agriculture. This creates more jobs, raises incomes, and improves access to goods — reducing poverty. When access to basic services is more equal, income and rural-urban inequality also decline. Without it, poor communities often pay more for basic needs, like buying bottled water instead of having access to clean tap water.
While global access to these essential services has steadily increased, stark inequalities persist between rural and urban populations across countries at different income levels, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Access to safe drinking waterGlobal access to safe water ensures good health and contributes to a prosperous society. Without access to clean drinking water, people face a high risk of waterborne diseases, some of which can be life-threatening. Generally, rural areas lag in access to safe drinking water compared to urban areas. In 2022, urban access to safe water (81 percent) was 19 percentage points higher than in rural areas (62 percent). Lack of specific attention to poor and vulnerable populations has allowed such gaps to persist.
Stark differences persist in low-income countries. Here, in 2022, less than 15 percent of rural dwellers had access to safely managed drinking water services compared to nearly 60 percent of urban dwellers.
In lower-middle income countries, the gap in access to safe drinking water has nearly closed over the last two decades: about 60 percent of both urban and rural populations have access to safe drinking water now. In fact, since 2000, access to urban residents hasn’t changed but there has been a noticeable increase for rural residents, from 34 percent to 63 percent.
Even in high-income countries, access to safe drinking water is uneven between urban and rural areas: while access to it is nearly universal (95 percent) in urban areas, 1 in 10 rural dwellers in high income countries still lack access to safe drinking water.
When safe drinking water is readily available in rural areas, people no longer need to travel long distances to fetch it — saving time, reducing physical strain that can lead to chronic pain or disability, and improving overall productivity.
Access to electricityAccess to electricity unlocks a range of opportunities: it provides lighting at night, helps manage extreme temperatures through heaters, fans, and refrigerators, and connects people to the wider world via phones and the internet. It also boosts productivity by powering appliances like washing machines and computers. Together, these benefits help integrate communities into the global economy, serving as a catalyst for economic development.
In 2000, more than 1.25 billion people lived without electricity. Over the last two decades, this number has nearly halved with 618 million people remaining without access to electricity. Of these, more than 500 million people live in rural areas.
Since 2000, access to electricity in rural areas has improved significantly around the world. In regions like South Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and East Asia & the Pacific, the gap between urban and rural access has nearly closed. Even in the Middle East and North Africa, where disparities remain, there has been notable progress toward narrowing the divide.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, access to electricity has improved in both urban and rural areas. However, the gap between them remains wide — still hovering around 50 percentage points. In rural parts of the region, fewer than 2 in 5 people have access to electricity, highlighting a persistent and significant divide.
Finally, access to electricity isn’t as binary as it might seem. It’s not just about whether someone has electricity, but also about the quality of that access — often measured by the capacity to power essential appliances and the affordability of using those services. When quality is factored in, rural access appears even more limited.
Access to clean cooking technologiesClean cooking fuels and technologies are those that emit levels of particulate matter and carbon monoxide within the safety limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). These include options like solar, electric, biogas, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Access to clean cooking is a key indicator of infrastructure quality — it enables people to prepare food without contributing to harmful indoor air pollution, reducing the risk of respiratory diseases and improving overall health.
Globally, access to clean cooking technologies has improved in rural areas from 24% to 54%, with the gap between urban and rural access narrowing in many regions — including East Asia & the Pacific, South Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean. However, Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as an exception. While urban access has increased in recent years (from 62 percent in 2000 to 81 percent in 2022), rural access has largely stagnated (changing only from 2.5 percent in 2000 to 8.5 percent in 2022), leading to a widening divide. It is also the only region where less than 1 in every 10 people in rural areas has access to clean cooking technologies.
As income levels rise, the gap between urban and rural access to clean cooking technologies tends to shrink. In lower-income countries, urban areas often enjoy significantly better access than rural areas, resulting in a pronounced disparity. By contrast, in high-income countries, access is generally widespread across both urban and rural populations, leading to a far narrower divide.
As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, it is essential that rural communities are not left behind. To achieve development goals like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), essential infrastructure including electricity, clean water, and clean cooking technologies must reach everyone, and rural areas must not be overlooked.