List of most populous cities in the world

Source	UN (World Population Prospects 2025)
Date	08 Feb 2026

Top Statistics

IPL 2025

List of continents by gdp per capita

Top 10 largest economies by GDP

In 2026, Jakarta remains the world’s most populous city, with an estimated population of 42.46 million people. It is followed by Dhaka with approximately 37.43 million residents. Tokyo and New Delhi are the only other cities with more than 30 million residents. The top six most populous cities are all in Asia, with Shanghai and Guangzhou holding the fifth and sixth positions, respectively.

Among the top ten most populous cities, India, and China have two entrants. Out of them, nine are situated in Asia and one in Africa.

As of 2026, 34 cities have a population above 10 million. Out of them, India has six cities, followed by China with four cities. Japan, the United States of America, and Pakistan have two cities each in the list. There are 23 countries having cities with populations over 10 million. Asia is home to 21 cities with populations over ten million, followed by South America (4), Africa (4), North America (3), and Europe (2).

Among the top 100, Damascus (Syria) has the highest population growth rate of 3.24% in 2026. Nineteen cities have negative population growth rates, and all four belong to Japan.

Most Populous Cities in the World (UN)
City	Population				Share (%)	Change			Country or Area	Continent
City	2025	Rank	2026	Rank	Share (%)	Population	(%)	Rank	Country or Area	Continent
Jakarta	41,913,860	1	42,459,070	1	0.505	545,210	1.30	0	Indonesia	Asia
Dhaka	36,585,479	2	37,429,156	2	0.441	843,677	2.31	0	Bangladesh	Asia
Tōkyō (Tokyo)	33,412,512	3	33,338,852	3	0.403	-73,660	-0.22	0	Japan	Asia
New Delhi	30,222,405	4	30,446,254	4	0.364	223,849	0.74	0	India	Asia
Shanghai	29,558,908	5	29,906,570	5	0.356	347,662	1.18	0	China	Asia
Guangzhou	27,563,372	6	27,739,195	6	0.332	175,823	0.64	0	China	Asia
Al-Qahirah (Cairo)	25,566,102	7	25,889,876	7	0.308	323,774	1.27	0	Egypt	Africa
Manila	24,735,305	8	24,893,838	8	0.298	158,533	0.64	0	Philippines	Asia
Kolkata	22,549,738	9	22,646,412	9	0.272	96,674	0.43	0	India	Asia
Seoul	22,490,482	10	22,517,764	10	0.271	27,282	0.12	0	Republic of Korea	Asia
Karachi	21,422,590	11	21,857,801	11	0.258	435,211	2.03	0	Pakistan	Asia
Mumbai	20,203,056	12	20,385,414	12	0.243	182,358	0.90	0	India	Asia
São Paulo	18,949,790	13	18,957,600	13	0.228	7,810	0.04	0	Brazil	South America
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok)	18,180,280	14	18,338,825	14	0.219	158,545	0.87	0	Thailand	Asia
Ciudad de México (Mexico City)	17,734,212	15	17,753,192	15	0.214	18,980	0.11	0	Mexico	North America
Beijing	17,013,303	16	17,127,344	16	0.205	114,041	0.67	0	China	Asia
Lahore	15,156,430	17	15,382,388	17	0.183	225,958	1.49	0	Pakistan	Asia
Istanbul	15,014,763	18	15,089,414	18	0.181	74,651	0.50	0	Türkiye	Asia
Moskva (Moscow)	14,524,753	19	14,571,370	19	0.175	46,617	0.32	0	Russian Federation	Europe
Ho Chi Minh City	14,052,713	20	14,213,778	20	0.169	161,065	1.15	0	Viet Nam	Asia
Buenos Aires	14,017,736	21	14,038,483	21	0.169	20,747	0.15	0	Argentina	South America
Shenzhen	13,878,396	23	13,957,317	22	0.167	78,921	0.57	+1	China	Asia
New York City	13,920,148	22	13,902,818	23	0.168	-17,330	-0.12	-1	United States of America	North America
Bengaluru	13,187,098	24	13,261,056	24	0.159	73,958	0.56	0	India	Asia
Lagos	12,791,699	26	12,956,639	25	0.154	164,940	1.29	+1	Nigeria	Africa
Osaka	12,964,145	25	12,853,431	26	0.156	-110,714	-0.85	-1	Japan	Asia
Los Angeles	12,740,420	27	12,806,288	27	0.153	65,868	0.52	0	United States of America	North America
Luanda	11,370,127	28	11,723,099	28	0.137	352,972	3.10	0	Angola	Africa
Chennai	11,153,205	29	11,192,733	29	0.134	39,528	0.35	0	India	Asia
Kinshasa	10,943,641	30	11,078,527	30	0.132	134,886	1.23	0	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa
Bogotá	10,624,315	31	10,738,472	31	0.128	114,157	1.07	0	Colombia	South America
Lima	10,580,241	32	10,693,197	32	0.127	112,956	1.07	0	Peru	South America
London	10,416,420	33	10,486,502	33	0.125	70,082	0.67	0	United Kingdom	Europe
Hajipur	9,941,510	34	10,165,216	34	0.120	223,706	2.25	0	India	Asia
Rio de Janeiro	9,500,336	35	9,508,383	35	0.114	8,047	0.08	0	Brazil	South America
Paris	9,381,921	36	9,380,592	36	0.113	-1,329	-0.01	0	France	Europe
Hyderabad	9,190,795	37	9,216,127	37	0.111	25,332	0.28	0	India	Asia
Tehrān (Tehran)	9,174,964	38	9,206,970	38	0.111	32,006	0.35	0	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Asia
Taipei	9,136,792	39	9,120,152	39	0.110	-16,640	-0.18	0	China, Taiwan Province of China	Asia
Bandung	8,909,104	40	8,965,166	40	0.107	56,062	0.63	0	Indonesia	Asia
Kuala Lumpur	8,443,731	41	8,565,445	41	0.102	121,714	1.44	0	Malaysia	Asia
Dar es Salaam	7,795,114	42	8,009,189	42	0.0939	214,075	2.75	0	United Republic of Tanzania	Africa
Suzhou	7,731,101	43	7,741,751	43	0.0931	10,650	0.14	0	China	Asia
Ahmedabad	7,632,408	44	7,667,167	44	0.0919	34,759	0.46	0	India	Asia
Hangzhou	7,500,208	45	7,627,713	45	0.0904	127,505	1.70	0	China	Asia
Alexandria	7,266,957	48	7,348,119	46	0.0875	81,162	1.12	+2	Egypt	Africa
Tianjin	7,285,342	47	7,318,511	47	0.0878	33,169	0.46	0	China	Asia
Wuhan	7,363,548	46	7,317,134	48	0.0887	-46,414	-0.63	-2	China	Asia
Johannesburg	7,077,175	50	7,173,199	49	0.0853	96,024	1.36	+1	South Africa	Africa
Nagoya	7,146,160	49	7,116,860	50	0.0861	-29,300	-0.41	-1	Japan	Asia
Chongqing	7,071,073	51	7,029,204	51	0.0852	-41,869	-0.59	0	China	Asia
Ar-Riyāḑ (Riyadh)	6,916,417	52	7,024,249	52	0.0833	107,832	1.56	0	Saudi Arabia	Asia
Surat	6,908,925	53	6,970,910	53	0.0832	61,985	0.90	0	India	Asia
Al-Kharṭūm (Khartoum)	6,809,355	56	6,941,762	54	0.0820	132,407	1.94	+2	Sudan	Africa
Ādīs Ᾱbeba (Addis Ababa)	6,705,705	59	6,888,446	55	0.0808	182,741	2.73	+4	Ethiopia	Africa
Pune	6,817,951	55	6,871,873	56	0.0821	53,922	0.79	-1	India	Asia
Surabaya	6,843,503	54	6,836,214	57	0.0824	-7,289	-0.11	-3	Indonesia	Asia
Nanjing	6,800,676	57	6,793,988	58	0.0819	-6,688	-0.10	-1	China	Asia
Santiago	6,726,045	58	6,751,278	59	0.0810	25,233	0.38	-1	Chile	South America
Abidjan	6,621,711	60	6,745,225	60	0.0798	123,514	1.87	0	Côte d'Ivoire	Africa
Ammān (Amman)	6,403,666	62	6,482,673	61	0.0771	79,007	1.23	+1	Jordan	Asia
Chaozhou	6,407,770	61	6,446,205	62	0.0772	38,435	0.60	-1	China	Asia
Baghdād (Baghdad)	6,390,735	63	6,445,878	63	0.0770	55,143	0.86	0	Iraq	Asia
Nairobi	6,134,334	65	6,244,748	64	0.0739	110,414	1.80	+1	Kenya	Africa
Kozhikode	6,123,872	66	6,185,294	65	0.0738	61,422	1.00	+1	India	Asia
Chengdu	6,139,874	64	6,107,666	66	0.0740	-32,208	-0.52	-2	China	Asia
Onitsha	5,627,706	69	5,761,718	67	0.0678	134,012	2.38	+2	Nigeria	Africa
Kābul (Kabul)	5,635,737	68	5,759,569	68	0.0679	123,832	2.20	0	Afghanistan	Asia
Shenyang	5,702,638	67	5,679,026	69	0.0687	-23,612	-0.41	-2	China	Asia
Accra	5,592,780	71	5,667,516	70	0.0674	74,736	1.34	+1	Ghana	Africa
Yangon	5,618,303	70	5,651,389	71	0.0677	33,086	0.59	-1	Myanmar	Asia
Faisalabad	5,566,382	73	5,640,667	72	0.0671	74,285	1.33	+1	Pakistan	Asia
Madrid	5,583,601	72	5,591,755	73	0.0673	8,154	0.15	-1	Spain	Europe
Toronto	5,494,431	74	5,539,951	74	0.0662	45,520	0.83	0	Canada	North America
Mashhad	5,398,248	75	5,417,340	75	0.0650	19,092	0.35	0	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Asia
Dubai	5,283,789	76	5,356,637	76	0.0637	72,848	1.38	0	United Arab Emirates	Asia
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte - Colombo	5,223,838	78	5,264,063	77	0.0629	40,225	0.77	+1	Sri Lanka	Asia
Yaoundé	5,106,087	79	5,244,714	78	0.0615	138,627	2.71	+1	Cameroon	Africa
Xi'an	5,231,053	77	5,216,357	79	0.0630	-14,696	-0.28	-2	China	Asia
Kochi	5,077,670	80	5,152,610	80	0.0612	74,940	1.48	0	India	Asia
Lucknow	5,052,444	82	5,087,496	81	0.0609	35,052	0.69	+1	India	Asia
Hà Nội (Hanoi)	5,068,414	81	5,064,339	82	0.0611	-4,075	-0.08	-1	Viet Nam	Asia
Chattogram	4,983,553	83	5,044,182	83	0.0600	60,629	1.22	0	Bangladesh	Asia
Kampala	4,880,943	85	5,012,188	84	0.0588	131,245	2.69	+1	Uganda	Africa
Singapore	4,963,998	84	4,989,549	85	0.0598	25,551	0.51	-1	Singapore	Asia
Islāmābād	4,860,084	88	4,945,537	86	0.0586	85,453	1.76	+2	Pakistan	Asia
Kano	4,840,280	89	4,906,917	87	0.0583	66,637	1.38	+2	Nigeria	Africa
Zhengzhou	4,878,035	86	4,867,461	88	0.0588	-10,574	-0.22	-2	China	Asia
Hefei	4,867,000	87	4,864,171	89	0.0586	-2,829	-0.06	-2	China	Asia
Saint Petersburg	4,736,499	91	4,734,157	90	0.0571	-2,342	-0.05	+1	Russian Federation	Europe
Tamar (Hong Kong)	4,749,543	90	4,731,419	91	0.0572	-18,124	-0.38	-1	China, Hong Kong SAR	Asia
Santo Domingo	4,600,064	92	4,638,389	92	0.0554	38,325	0.83	0	Dominican Republic	North America
Cape Town	4,508,921	93	4,585,729	93	0.0543	76,808	1.70	0	South Africa	Africa
Muqdisho (Mogadishu)	4,399,430	95	4,518,627	94	0.0530	119,197	2.71	+1	Somalia	Africa
Casablanca	4,457,471	94	4,487,289	95	0.0537	29,818	0.67	-1	Morocco	Africa
Dimashq (Damascus)	4,287,746	99	4,426,767	96	0.0517	139,021	3.24	+3	Syrian Arab Republic	Asia
Bamako	4,244,881	103	4,378,826	97	0.0511	133,945	3.16	+6	Mali	Africa
Harbin	4,376,259	96	4,370,578	98	0.0527	-5,681	-0.13	-2	China	Asia
Kumasi	4,297,984	98	4,357,357	99	0.0518	59,373	1.38	-1	Ghana	Africa
Jeddah	4,284,080	100	4,351,700	100	0.0516	67,620	1.58	0	Saudi Arabia	Asia