Under the UN's 2025 method, Jakarta is the largest city in the world (41.9 million). Shanghai (29.6 million) and Guangzhou (27.6 million) are 5th and 6th.
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Under the UN's 2025 method, Jakarta is the largest city in the world (41.9 million). Shanghai (29.6 million) and Guangzhou (27.6 million) are 5th and 6th.
Data year 2025
| Rank | Urban agglomeration | Country | 2025 | 2050 (projection) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakarta | Indonesia | 41.9 | 51.8 |
| 2 | Dhaka | Bangladesh | 36.6 | 52.1 |
| 3 | Tokyo | Japan | 33.4 | 30.7 |
| 4 | New Delhi | India | 30.2 | 33.9 |
| 5 | Shanghai | China | 29.6 | 34.9 |
| 6 | Guangzhou | China | 27.6 | 29.2 |
| 7 | Cairo | Egypt | 25.6 | 32.4 |
| 8 | Manila | Philippines | 24.7 | 27.1 |
| 9 | Kolkata | India | 22.6 | 23.8 |
| 10 | Seoul | South Korea | 22.5 | 21.2 |
Read before you quote
UN World Urbanization Prospects 2025 uses a new harmonised method: contiguous high-density built-up areas, not city administrative borders. Results differ a lot from older editions (which put Tokyo first). The UN press release rounds Dhaka to 'almost 40 million'; the table uses the 36.6 million figure published by Germany's statistics office from the same dataset.
In China
Checked 24 October 2026
CC BY 4.0
These figures are compiled by PreeChina from the sources above. You may reuse them under the CC BY 4.0 licence: credit "PreeChina" and link to this page. Download the table as CSV.
Suggested citation:
PreeChina, "What Are the Largest Cities in the World?", China by the Numbers, https://www.preechina.com/first-time-china/china-by-the-numbers/largest-cities-in-the-world/, checked 24 October 2026. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Original data: UN DESA Population Division; Destatis (Federal Statistical Office of Germany).
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