Which has higher population in the largest city, Spain or United Kingdom?

Spain, at 17.1% against 17.0% in United Kingdom as of 2025.

How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and United Kingdom?

66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN), published as Population in the largest city (% of urban population). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Spain vs United Kingdom: Population in the largest city (% of urban population)

Spain

17.1%

in 2025

United Kingdom

17.0%

in 2025

Spain rank

127th

United Kingdom rank

128th

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) over time

Spain
United Kingdom

How they compare

Spain currently reports 17.1% against 17.0% in United Kingdom, a difference of 0.1%.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was United Kingdom ahead.

Spain ranks 127th and United Kingdom ranks 128th of 153 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, Spain averaged higher in 5 and United Kingdom in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Spain	United Kingdom	Difference	Ahead
1960s	14.9%	18.8%	3.9%	United Kingdom
1970s	15.8%	16.5%	0.7%	United Kingdom
1980s	15.5%	15.2%	0.3%	Spain
1990s	15.6%	15.4%	0.2%	Spain
2000s	16.0%	15.5%	0.5%	Spain
2010s	16.7%	16.2%	0.5%	Spain
2020s	17.4%	16.9%	0.5%	Spain

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population in the largest city, Spain or United Kingdom?: Spain, at 17.1% against 17.0% in United Kingdom as of 2025.
What is the difference in population in the largest city between Spain and United Kingdom?: 0.1%, with Spain ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and United Kingdom?: 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
How do Spain and United Kingdom rank globally for population in the largest city?: Spain ranks 127th and United Kingdom ranks 128th of 153 countries.
Where does this data come from?: World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN), published as Population in the largest city (% of urban population). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Spain vs United Kingdom: Population in the largest city. Statizoid, drawing on World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN). Retrieved 08 November 2026, from https://urban.statizoid.com/compare/population-in-the-largest-city-percent-of-urban-population/spain/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://urban.statizoid.com/compare/population-in-the-largest-city-percent-of-urban-population/spain/united-kingdom/">Spain vs United Kingdom: Population in the largest city</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Population in the largest city (% of urban population)
Unit: % of urban population
Source: World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 196 places, 12,906 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 29 October 2026

Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.