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Photo: NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cities and towns

In 2025, 45% of the world’s people lived in cities, 36% in towns and semi-dense areas and 20% in rural areas, by the UN estimate.

In 1950, 20% lived in cities. For 2050 the UN projects 48%.

Cities of a million people or more: 165 in 1975 and 511 in 2025. For 2050 the UN projects 611.

The largest city in 2025 is Jakarta (Indonesia), with 41.9 million.

Share of the world population in cities, towns and rural areas, 1950 to 2050Projected from 20260%10%20%30%40%50%19501960197019801990200020102020203020402050CitiesTowns and semi-dense areasRural areas
2025 Cities: 45%Towns and semi-dense areas: 36%Rural areas: 20%

Degree of urbanisation: one rule for every country, a city has at least 50,000 people at 1,500 or more per km². National definitions of “urban” differ.

The 10 largest cities, 2025
RankCityCountryPopulation
1JakartaIndonesia41,913,860
2DhakaBangladesh36,585,479
3Tōkyō (Tokyo)Japan33,412,512
4New DelhiIndia30,222,405
5ShanghaiChina29,558,908
6GuangzhouChina27,563,372
7Al-Qahirah (Cairo)Egypt25,566,102
8ManilaPhilippines24,735,305
9KolkataIndia22,549,738
10SeoulSouth Korea22,490,482

All cities

Sources: World Urbanization Prospects 2025, World Urbanization Prospects 2025, cities, UN DESA Population Division (CC BY 3.0 IGO).

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Years up to 2025 are UN estimates. Later years are projections, the medium variant unless said otherwise. Methodology