Somalia led East Africa’s urban share while Ethiopia led urban population
The World Bank series places Somalia's urban share at 55.14% in 2025, the highest of eight countries. Ethiopia had the largest urban population, 32.66 million, even though its urban share was 24.11%.
Sources checked
Rift & Coast Editorial Team
Urban populationUrban share in eight East African countries in 2025
Ethiopia had about three times Somalia's estimated urban population in 2025. Its much larger total population made that count a smaller proportion of all residents. Tanzania had 26.02 million urban residents, or 36.88% of its population. Source 1Source 4
Which shares moved most since 2000
Somalia rose from 33.06% in 2000 to 55.14% in 2025. Uganda rose from 11.64% to 31.94%. Somalia gained roughly 22.1 percentage points and Uganda gained 20.3 points. These are changes in national proportions. Source 1
National categories shape the totals
Countries can use population thresholds, administrative status or other criteria for their definition of an urban area. Changes in settlement boundaries and classifications can move measured urban shares alongside migration and natural population growth. Source 2Source 5
What a marker tells you
The Nairobi marker gives Kenya's national share, 32.21%. The table shows 18.53 million residents classified as urban across Kenya. City-level population or infrastructure analysis requires separate local figures and boundary definitions. Source 3Source 1Source 4