Thailand: Rural population

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Thailand's rural population fell 2.5% on 2024 (from 27.33 million to 26.64 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −1.6% and a typical year strayed about 1.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 2.9% in 1964 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.3% in 2018. 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 downward, about 1.12 million a year. A straight line explains 93% 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 22.44 million 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 361,789, against 1.55 million 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, Thailand had the 21st 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.

Closest to Thailand in the 2025 ranking

• Uganda — 17th of 217: 34.97 million
• Sudan — 18th of 217: 33.61 million
• Afghanistan — 19th of 217: 32.47 million
• Mexico — 21st of 217: 26.34 million
• Yemen, Rep. — 22nd of 217: 26.3 million
• Brazil — 23rd of 217: 25.16 million

What this measures

Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

Limitations: Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. Estimates of the world's urban population would change significantly if China, India, and a few other populous nations were to change their definition of urban centers. Because the estimates of city and metropolitan area are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution. To estimate urban populations, UN ratios of urban to total population were applied to the World Bank's estimates of total population.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 66 values

Rural population in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 8,970 (2025)
• Australia — 3.39 million (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 116,531 (2025)
• Cambodia — 10.51 million (2025)
• China — 473.41 million (2025)
• Fiji — 377,513 (2025)
• French Polynesia — 108,019 (2025)
• Guam — 9,769 (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0 (2025)
• Indonesia — 116.02 million (2025)
• Japan — 9.5 million (2025)
• Kiribati — 49,975 (2025)

More environment data for Thailand

• Population in largest city — 11.39 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 25.33% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 15.52 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 21.67% (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 37.2% (2025)
• Urban population — 44.98 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 62.8% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 998,645 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 1.65 million (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Thailand's rural population?

26.64 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 12.53% from 23.68 million in 1960 (0.18% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 45.15 million in 1993 and the lowest 23.68 million in 1960.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.RUR.TOTL, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wup/, note: World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects, National definitions, publisher: UN Population Division; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), note: Wo… 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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