Living in Cities in Burkina Faso: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

Behind every percentage point in this data lies the daily reality of human lives shaped by the spaces they inhabit. For Burkina Faso, the shift from rural landscapes to urban centers tells a story of evolving communities, changing labor, and the quiet rhythms of generations building homes, markets, and futures together. These numbers do not merely measure geography; they chart the gradual transformation of how people gather, trade, and organize their societies across centuries.

The trajectory began slowly in the 1800s estimate with 4 %, creeping upward through the 1810s estimate at 4.2 %, the 1820s estimate at 4.4 %, the 1830s estimate at 4.6 %, the 1840s estimate at 4.8 %, the 1850s estimate at 5, the 1860s estimate at 5.2 %, the 1870s estimate at 5.4 %, the 1880s estimate at 5.6 %, and the 1890s estimate at 5.8 %. By the 1900s estimate it reached 6 %, advancing steadily through the decades to the 1910s estimate at 7 %, the 1920s estimate at 8 %, the 1930s estimate at 9 %, the 1940s estimate at 10 %, the 1950s at 11 %, the 1960s at 15 %, the 1970s at 19 %, the 1980s at 23 %, the 1990s at 27 %, the 2000s at 31 %, the 2010s at 36 %, and the 2020s at 41 %, where it stands at ranking #115 of 157 countries. Projections look ahead to the 2030s projection at 43 %, the 2040s projection at 45 %, the 2050s projection at 47 %, the 2060s projection at 49 %, the 2070s projection at 51 %, the 2080s projection at 53 %, the 2090s projection at 55 %, and the 2100s projection at 57 %.

If you were born into this unfolding history, your daily environment would reflect these broader demographic shifts, defining your proximity to urban infrastructure, commerce, and community networks. Whether navigating the quiet agrarian landscapes of earlier eras or the increasingly dense neighborhoods of later decades, your life would be framed by the exact pace of this urbanization. Keep exploring Life Expectancy at Birth in Burkina Faso Income per Person (GDP per capita, PPP) in Burkina Faso Child Mortality (under 5) in Burkina Faso Years of Schooling in Burkina Faso Children per Woman in Burkina Faso Full country profile: Burkina Faso. Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born? →