Panama's urban population (% of total population) was 66.15% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 0.62 percentage points from 65.53% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 66.15% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 65.79% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 65.53% | 2015 |
| Highest | 66.15% | 2025 |
| Lowest | 41.29% | 1960 |
| Average since 2016 | 65.81% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 41.29% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Panama's urban population (% of total population) rose 0.15 percentage points on 2024 (from 66% to 66.15%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.01 percentage points in 1995. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.05 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 89% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 66.2% for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.06%, against 0.18% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2025, Panama had the 103rd highest value of the 217 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Panama | 66.15% | 2025 |
| World | 57.83% | 2025 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 81.51% | 2025 |
| High income | 80.25% | 2025 |
Closest to Panama in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division.
Limitations: Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements. Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, the distinction between urban and rural population is not amenable to a single definition that would be applicable to all countries.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Urban population (% of total population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.15 |
| 2024 | 66 |
| 2023 | 65.86 |
| 2022 | 65.82 |
| 2021 | 65.81 |
| 2020 | 65.79 |
| 2019 | 65.75 |
| 2018 | 65.71 |
| 2017 | 65.66 |
| 2016 | 65.6 |
| 2015 |
Urban population (% of total population) in nearby economies
- Antigua and Barbuda — 24.33% (2025)
- Argentina — 92.35% (2025)
- Aruba — 61.75% (2025)
- Bahamas, The — 81.33% (2025)
- Barbados — 59.7% (2025)
- Belize — 41.56% (2025)
- Bolivia — 71.56% (2025)
- Brazil — 88.18% (2025)
- British Virgin Islands — 57.4% (2025)
- Cayman Islands — 100% (2025)
More environment data for Panama
- Population in largest city — 2.05 million (2025)
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 67.94% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 2.05 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 44.95% (2025)
- Rural population — 1.55 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 33.85% (2025)
- Urban population — 3.02 million (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 18,038 (2024)
- Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 276,799 (2024)
- Total fisheries production (metric tons)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Panama's urban population (% of total population)?
- 66.15% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 24.86 percentage points from 41.29% in 1960. The highest value was 66.15% in 2025 and the lowest 41.29% in 1960.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wup/, note: United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects, National definitions, publisher: UN Population Division Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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