2026-08-18 · people
More than half of us live in cities
Urban share crossed 50% mid-century and keeps climbing.
More of humanity now lives in cities than everywhere else combined. As of 2026, 57% of the world's 8.2 billion people are urban — a majority mark crossed mid-century and still climbing, reshaping where housing, jobs, and infrastructure get built.
1 cell = 8.2 million people (0.1% of world population) · 1,000 cells
Context
The figures come from the 2025 Revision of the UN's World Urbanization Prospects, produced by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The series provides estimates and projections of urban and rural populations for every country from 1950 to 2050, consistent with the 2024 Revision of World Population Prospects.
Crossing the 50% threshold mid-century put a majority of humanity in cities, and the urban share has kept climbing since — reaching 57% of the world's people in 2026. As populations concentrate in urban areas, so does demand for housing, transport, and services.
The Prospects are used widely throughout the United Nations and by international organizations, researchers, and the media, making them the standard reference for tracking how the world splits between city and countryside.
UN World Urbanization Prospects.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-08-18-urban-population