Population living in slums in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Population living in slums was 54.9% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Population living in slums in Zimbabwe, 2000–2022
Source: Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
Zimbabwe recorded 54.9% for population living in slums in 2022. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 154.5% on the previous year and up 129.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population living in slums in Zimbabwe peaked at 54.9% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 21.6%, in 2020.
Zimbabwe ranks 25th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Population living in slums in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 27.5% | — |
| 2002 | 26.9% | -2.2% |
| 2004 | 26.3% | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 25.7% | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 25.1% | -2.3% |
| 2010 | 24.5% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 23.9% | -2.4% |
| 2014 | 23.4% | -2.5% |
| 2016 | 22.8% | -2.5% |
| 2018 | 22.2% | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 21.6% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 54.9% | +154.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 26.3% | 25.1% | 27.5% | 5 |
| 2010s | 23.4% | 22.2% | 24.5% | 5 |
| 2020s | 38.2% | 21.6% | 54.9% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
- 22 Ecuador 57.8% compare
- 23 Pakistan 56.0% compare
- 24 Mozambique 55.0% compare
- 26 Lao People's Democratic Republic 54.8% compare
- 27 Uganda 52.7% compare
- 28 Bangladesh 51.5% compare
More poverty & inequality data for Zimbabwe
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 3.72 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 743.9 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -22.26 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 14.89 (2021)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 14.9% (2021)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population living in slums in Zimbabwe?
- Population living in slums in Zimbabwe was 54.9% in 2022, according to Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
- What is the highest population living in slums recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 54.9% in 2022.
- What is the lowest population living in slums recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.6% in 2020.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for population living in slums?
- Zimbabwe ranks 25th out of 174 countries with data for 2022.
- Is population living in slums rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 129.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zimbabwe data come from?
- The figures come from Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), published as part of Population living in slums (% of urban population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Population living in slums is the proportion of the urban population living in slum households. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure, as adopted in the Millennium Development Goal Target 7.D. The successor, the Sustainable Development Goal 11.1.1, considers inadequate housing (housing affordability) to complement the above definition of slums/informal settlements.