Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Rural population, male was 30.7% in 2015. ▼ Falling

Latest (2015)
30.7%
Rank
13th
of 47 groups
All-time high
38.4%
in 1980
All-time low
30.7%
in 2015
Years of data
8
1980–2015

Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1980–2015

0102030401980199720151980: 38.4 % of total1985: 37.3 % of total1990: 35.9 % of total1995: 35 % of total2000: 34.1 % of total2005: 33.1 % of total2010: 32 % of total2015: 30.7 % of total

Source: The United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects. Measured in % of total.

Analysis

In 2015, rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 30.7%. That is the lowest value across all 8 years on record.

That represents a change of down 7.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 38.4% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 30.7%, in 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 13th of 47 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Rural population, male (% of total) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1980 to 2015.
Year % of total Change
1980 38.4%
1985 37.3% -3.0%
1990 35.9% -3.6%
1995 35.0% -2.7%
2000 34.1% -2.3%
2005 33.1% -3.0%
2010 32.0% -3.5%
2015 30.7% -4.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 37.8% 37.3% 38.4% 2
1990s 35.4% 35.0% 35.9% 2
2000s 33.6% 33.1% 34.1% 2
2010s 31.3% 30.7% 32.0% 2

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 10 Micronesia, Federated States of 40.0% compare
  2. 11 Saint Lucia 39.8% compare
  3. 12 Sri Lanka 39.7% compare
  4. 13 Solomon Islands 39.3% compare
  5. 14 Cambodia 38.9% compare
  6. 15 Nepal 38.8% compare
  7. 16 Eswatini 38.7% compare

See the full ranking of 241 places →

More gender data for Sub-Saharan Africa

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa was 30.7% in 2015, according to The United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects.
What is the highest rural population, male recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 38.4% in 1980.
What is the lowest rural population, male recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 30.7% in 2015.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for rural population, male?
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 13th out of 47 groups with data for 2015.
Is rural population, male rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from The United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects, published as part of Rural population, male (% of total). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on The United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects. Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://gender.statizoid.com/stat/rural-population-male-percent-of-total/sub-saharan-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://gender.statizoid.com/stat/rural-population-male-percent-of-total/sub-saharan-africa/">Rural population, male in Sub-Saharan Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Rural population, male (% of total)
Unit
% of total
Source
The United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
241 places, 1,928 data points, 1980–2015
Last refreshed

Male rural population is the percentage males who live in rural areas to total population.