The percentage of people in Ontario living in what's considered rural areas has dropped from 25 per cent to 21 per cent since 2006.
However, a report from the Rural Ontario Institute suggests that's not because the rural population is getting smaller - it's because urban areas are growing faster.
In fact, the institute's Norman Ragetlie says 20 per cent of the province's rural census divisions are consistently growing, while 20 per cent are consistently declining.
Part of the decline is because of what the institute calls natural balance - more people are dying in the rural areas than are being born there.
The figures also suggest most of the people coming into the province from elsewhere are migrating to the urban areas, rather than rural areas.
Ragetlie says while the numbers also show rural places have been gaining people from other Ontario communities, they're losing residents to other provinces.
