According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) what percentage of world's total population is currently living in urban areas?

The correct answer is D, 55 per cent. The UN DESA World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report put the urban share of the world's population at 55 per cent in 2018, up from about 30 per cent in 1950, and projected it to reach about 68 per cent by 2050.

The other options are too low for the period. 25, 35 and 45 per cent reflect the world's position decades earlier, when the urban share was still well below half. Option B (45) roughly matches the early 1990s, not the present.

Core concept: urbanisation, measured as the urban share of total population. Each country uses its own definition of urban, so UN figures are harmonised estimates, not uniform census counts. This links to Mains GS-I (urbanisation, its problems and remedies) and GS-III (smart cities, urban infrastructure and housing).

Note: later UN revisions place the urban share somewhat higher, near 57 to 58 per cent. Keep the 55 per cent figure tied to the 2018 report when you revise.

Trap: candidates apply India's census urban share (around 31 per cent in 2011) to a world question. India is far more rural than the global average, so national figures should not be transferred to global questions.