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China against Europe on city living

Race · 29 Oct 2026

Line race of the urban share of the population, 1990 to 2025, for China, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia. China, in gold, climbs from 26% to 66% and passes Slovakia and Poland. Germany ends highest at 82%.

China is now more urban than Poland

In 1990 a quarter of China's people lived in cities. By 2025 two in three did. China passed Slovakia in 2013 and Poland in 2017, where the urban share has slipped since 2000.

Source: World Bank (UN World Urbanization Prospects), 2025