which cities are rising, and which are fading

50 cities, six rankings, measured the same way everywhere. No surveys. No paid places.

Dubai UAE

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Where cities are growing fastest

Population growth, 2015 to 2025, in each city’s dense core. · Estimate

all Africa Asia Middle East Latin America Europe North America
  1. 1 Luanda Angola 60%
  2. 2 Dar es Salaam Tanzania 50%
  3. 3 Addis Ababa Ethiopia 47%
  4. 4 Dubai UAE 42%
  5. 5 Kinshasa DR Congo 37%
  6. 6 Karachi Pakistan 35%
  7. 7 Nairobi Kenya 31%
  8. 8 Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire 30%
  9. 9 Johannesburg South Africa 30%
  10. 10 Dhaka Bangladesh 29%
  11. 11 Lahore Pakistan 28%
  12. 12 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 25%
  13. 13 Shanghai China 24%
  14. 14 Bengaluru India 23%
  15. 15 Bangkok Thailand 22%
  16. 16 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 22%
  17. 17 Bogotá Colombia 19%
  18. 18 Cairo Egypt 19%
  19. 19 Baghdad Iraq 18%
  20. 20 Delhi India 16%
  21. 21 Jakarta Indonesia 16%
  22. 22 Khartoum Sudan 15%
  23. 23 Lagos Nigeria 15%
  24. 24 Lima Peru 14%
  25. 25 Sydney Australia 13%
  26. 26 Tehran Iran 13%
  27. 27 London UK 12%
  28. 28 Madrid Spain 12%
  29. 29 Shenzhen China 11%
  30. 30 Beijing China 10%
  31. 31 Mumbai India 10%
  32. 32 Manila Philippines 9%
  33. 33 Istanbul Türkiye 8%
  34. 34 Moscow Russia 8%
  35. 35 Santiago Chile 8%
  36. 36 Berlin Germany 6%
  37. 37 Kolkata India 6%
  38. 38 Los Angeles USA 5%
  39. 39 Seoul South Korea 5%
  40. 40 Singapore Singapore 5%
  41. 41 Buenos Aires Argentina 2%
  42. 42 Chicago USA 2%
  43. 43 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2%
  44. 44 New York USA 1%
  45. 45 Paris France 1%
  46. 46 São Paulo Brazil 1%
  47. 47 Tokyo Japan 1%
  48. 48 Hong Kong China 0%
  49. 49 Mexico City Mexico −6%
  50. 50 Chengdu China −9%

Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (cities by the Degree of Urbanisation) · 2025 data. The UN counts each city’s dense core (areas above 1,500 people per km²), which can shrink while suburbs grow; for Chengdu and Mexico City, national census figures differ. Hong Kong shows its largest UN city, Tamar. 2025 values are UN estimates.

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