Urbanization and agglomerations

The urban land area in square kilometres is estimated from a combination of population data, settlement points, and the presence of nighttime lights.

An urban area is defined as any sector with more than 5,000 inhabitants, identified through satellite-captured nighttime lights and settlement points. From 1990 to 2015, the urban area of Haiti increased by 31.8%.

The rural land area in square kilometres is estimated from grids distinguishing urban and rural areas, combining population data, settlement points, and nighttime lights.

An area is considered urban when contiguous lighted cells from nighttime lights or estimated urban extents based on grouped settlement points exceed 5,000 inhabitants.

The urban population refers to all people residing in urban areas, including cities, agglomerations, and urban centers of a country.

Since 1960, Haiti's urban population has experienced considerable growth, rising from 0.59 million to 6.48 million inhabitants in 2024. This evolution could be explained by the lack of economic opportunities in rural areas, and poverty.

The rural population refers to all people residing in rural areas, including countryside and villages of the country.

Since the early 1990s, Haiti's rural population has stabilized around 5 million inhabitants. This suggests that urban population growth is driven more by the natural increase of the population in cities than by rural exodus.

This indicator measures the proportion of the urban and rural population in the country's total population.

Data show that in 1950, people living in rural areas, countryside and villages of the country represented 87.5% of the population. By 2024, they account for only 45%.

This indicator measures the proportion of the population living in cities, towns, and rural areas of the country.

Cities are defined as areas with at least 50,000 inhabitants and a minimum density of 1,500 people/km². Towns include areas with at least 5,000 inhabitants and a minimum density of 300 people/km², including peri-urban areas. Rural areas correspond to areas with less than 300 inhabitants/km².

These data combine United Nations estimates and projections, enriched by HYDE data, which reconstructs historical human settlement patterns through modelling rather than direct observations.

According to projections, by 2050, Haiti's urban population is expected to reach 9.67 million inhabitants compared to 5.04 million in rural areas. The urban population will follow a continuous growth trend, while the rural population will remain relatively stable.

This indicator measures the respective share of urban and rural population in Haiti, projecting their evolution through 2100.

According to projections, by 2100, Haiti's urban population is expected to represent 87.3% of the total population, compared to only 12.7% for the rural population.

These data are estimated using satellite imagery and population data to identify the share of the population living in cities, towns, and rural areas.

According to projections, by 2100, Haiti's population will be almost evenly distributed between cities (43.7%) and towns (43.6%), while rural areas will represent only 12.7% of the total population.

This projection measures the share of the urban population residing in the country's largest city. City boundaries are delineated using satellite imagery and demographic data. A city is defined as any area with at least 1,500 inhabitants per square kilometer and a total population of 50,000.

Projections indicate that by 2100, only 12.6% of the urban population would reside in the country's largest city, suggesting a progressive dispersal towards other urban centers.

Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti and the country's main economic and political center, is by far the most populous city.

In 2020, Port-au-Prince had approximately 1.85 million inhabitants, representing nearly 15% of the country's total population. It is followed by Carrefour, Delmas, and Pétion-Ville, which are all communes of the same metropolitan agglomeration, located in the West department.

This indicator measures the number of people living in metropolitan areas that had a population of more than one million in 2018.

In 2024, more than 3 million Haitians lived in large urban agglomerations. This high concentration reflects the significant demographic and urban challenges the country is facing.

A slum household is a group of individuals living under the same roof without adequate access to water, sanitation, durable housing, or security of tenure.

Since the early 2000s, the number of people living in slum households has been steadily increasing. In 2020, this figure stood at over 3 million people.