Japan vs Papua New Guinea

Japan vs Papua New Guinea: Urban population

Urban population in 2025: 92.3% in Japan and 15.8% in Papua New Guinea, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Japan, by 76.5 percentage points, or 5.85 times that in Papua New Guinea.

% of people · UN

Japan vs Papua New Guinea: Urban populationUrban population in 2025: 92.3% in Japan and 15.8% in Papua New Guinea, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Japan, by 76.5 percentage points, or 5.85 times that in Papua New Guinea.
JapanPapua New GuineaUN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025)

What the numbers say

  • Japan has been higher in every year both have figures for since 1950.
  • In 2025, Japan ranked 28 and Papua New Guinea ranked 226 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) puts Japan at 96% and Papua New Guinea at 32.4% in 2050.

Every year

% of people · UN

YearJapanPapua New Guinea
202592.315.8
202492.215.4
202392.115.1
20229214.7
202191.914.4
202091.814.2
201991.713.9
201891.613.7
201791.613.5
201691.513.4
201591.413.2
201491.313.1
201391.213.1
20129113
201190.913
201090.613
200990.113
200889.313
200788.313
200687.213.1
20058613.1
200484.413.1
200382.413.1
200280.613.2
200179.213.2
200078.613.2
199978.513.3
199878.313.5
199778.213.8
199678.114
19957814.4
199477.914.7
199377.814.9
199277.615.2
199177.515.3
199077.315.4
198977.215.3
198877.115.1
198776.914.9
198676.814.5
198576.714.2
198476.613.8
198376.513.5
198276.413.3
198176.313.1
198076.213.1
197976.113.1
197876.113.1
19777613.1
19767613.1
197575.913
197475.412.7
197374.612.2
197273.711.7
197172.711.1
197071.910.2
196971.19.1
196870.37.8
196769.56.6
196668.75.9
196567.95.4
1964675
196366.14.6
196265.24.2
196164.33.8
196063.33.5
195962.33.1
195861.32.9
195760.12.6
195658.72.4
195556.82.2
195453.42
195348.71.9
195243.81.8
195139.61.7
1950371.7
UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) · 2026–2050
YearJapanPapua New Guinea
202692.416.2
202792.516.6
202892.717.1
202992.817.5
203092.918
20319318.5
203293.119.1
203393.319.6
203493.420.2
203593.620.8
203693.721.5
203793.822.1
20389422.8
203994.123.5
204094.324.2
204194.424.9
204294.625.7
204394.826.5
204494.927.2
204595.128.1
204695.328.9
204795.529.7
204895.630.6
204995.831.5
20509632.4

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • The share of people living in places the country itself counts as urban.
  • Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025.
  • The dashed line is the UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Japan vs Papua New Guinea

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