Urbanization: China, Europe, and Japan 1000-2020| ��ƽ��

Share of the population living in towns of more than 10,000 people in China, Japan, and Western Europe in selected years between 1000 and 2020

Characteristic	China	Western Europe/EU*	Japan
2020	61.43%	74.96%	91.78%
2000	35.88%	70.83%	78.65%
1980	19.36%	67.59%	76.18%
1960	16.2%	58.68%	63.27%
1890	4.4%	31%	16%
1820	3.8%	12.3%	12.3%
1600	4%	7.8%	4.4%
1500	3.8%	6.1%	2.9%
1000	3%	0%	-

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Release date

2022

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Region

Europe, China, Japan, EU

Survey time period

1000 to 2020

Supplementary notes

*Figures for Western Europe from 1000-1890. Figures for the European Union from 1960-2020.

Figures for the years 1000-1890 come from the print source. Figures from 1960-2020 are .

Data for the years 1000-1890 refers to the share of the population living in urban centers with a population of 10,000 people or more; figures thereafter are subject to national classifications.

Release date is the date of most recent access.

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Until 2007, the share of the global population living in urban areas was always smaller than the rural population, but in 2021, the world's level of urbanization has risen to around 56 percent, and by 2050, it is estimated that two thirds of the world will live in urban areas. Urbanization on such a large scale is a relatively new phenomenon, and has a strong correlation with the industrial maturity of a society. For most of pre-industrial times, fewer than five percent of the total population lived in urban centers, which were generally trading and administrative centers. The main reason for this was the agricultural demands of the time, where subsistence farming was the primary method of food production for the general population. Compared to Japan and China, a larger share of Western Europe lived in urban centers in the 16^th century, due to higher levels of trade along the Mediterranean and between northern states, but around 94 percent of the population still lived in a rural setting.

Effect of industrialization

With the onset of the first industrial revolution in the 19^th century, the mechanization of agriculture and development of manufacturing industries saw a shift in labor demands in Western Europe. People began migrating to cities on a large scale, and migration to the U.S. also increased due to industrialization in the northeastern states. Urban populations then became more prosperous, although mortality rates were initially higher due to the more rapid spread of disease and poor sanitation infrastructure. This mortality also disproportionately affected children and more recent arrivals.

Global trends

Waves of industrialization in Europe saw further urbanization throughout the 1800s, and roughly a third of the population had urbanized by the end of the 19^th century. Globally, it would take until the 1960s before one third of the population had urbanized, and it was not until the late 1990s where China's urbanization rate had reached this level. However, China's urbanization rate has grown rapidly since the 1980s, and is now around 80 percent of the EU's level, whereas it was closer to 50 percent just two decades previously. Japan's urbanization rate was comparable to Europe's for most of the 20^th century, but increased further throughout the 2010s; today it has one of the highest rates among more developed nations, although this has presented some challenges for Japanese society.