which cities are rising, and which are fading
50 cities, six rankings, measured the same way everywhere. No surveys. No paid places.
Mexico City Mexico
all cities ×- – The busiest air gatewaysRewiring · no published figure not reported
- 22nd Most sun and wind power built nearbyElectrifying · of 50 cities 1,032 MW
- 49th Where cities are growing fastestDemographic turn · of 50 cities −6%
- – The biggest metro and rapid-transit networksLeapfrogging · no published figure not reported
- 41st Where cities are covering the most new landPlanetary pressure · of 50 cities 20%
1 more rankings join as their real data is checked.
Where cities are growing fastest
Population growth, 2015 to 2025, in each city’s dense core. · Estimate
- 1 Luanda Angola 60%
- 2 Dar es Salaam Tanzania 50%
- 3 Addis Ababa Ethiopia 47%
- 4 Dubai UAE 42%
- 5 Kinshasa DR Congo 37%
- 6 Karachi Pakistan 35%
- 7 Nairobi Kenya 31%
- 8 Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire 30%
- 9 Johannesburg South Africa 30%
- 10 Dhaka Bangladesh 29%
- 11 Lahore Pakistan 28%
- 12 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 25%
- 13 Shanghai China 24%
- 14 Bengaluru India 23%
- 15 Bangkok Thailand 22%
- 16 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 22%
- 17 Bogotá Colombia 19%
- 18 Cairo Egypt 19%
- 19 Baghdad Iraq 18%
- 20 Delhi India 16%
- 21 Jakarta Indonesia 16%
- 22 Khartoum Sudan 15%
- 23 Lagos Nigeria 15%
- 24 Lima Peru 14%
- 25 Sydney Australia 13%
- 26 Tehran Iran 13%
- 27 London UK 12%
- 28 Madrid Spain 12%
- 29 Shenzhen China 11%
- 30 Beijing China 10%
- 31 Mumbai India 10%
- 32 Manila Philippines 9%
- 33 Istanbul Türkiye 8%
- 34 Moscow Russia 8%
- 35 Santiago Chile 8%
- 36 Berlin Germany 6%
- 37 Kolkata India 6%
- 38 Los Angeles USA 5%
- 39 Seoul South Korea 5%
- 40 Singapore Singapore 5%
- 41 Buenos Aires Argentina 2%
- 42 Chicago USA 2%
- 43 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2%
- 44 New York USA 1%
- 45 Paris France 1%
- 46 São Paulo Brazil 1%
- 47 Tokyo Japan 1%
- 48 Hong Kong China 0%
- 49 Mexico City Mexico −6%
- 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.
Measured, never opinion · every number traceable · nobody can buy a rank.
license the rankings