Kinshasa will soon be bigger than Paris and London combined
Urban agglomeration population, millions, 1950–2035. Values after 2018 are UN projections.
Paris was 31 times bigger than Kinshasa in 1950: 6.3m vs 0.2m.
By 2015 Kinshasa had passed Paris (11.6m vs 10.7m), and London before that.
Kinshasa's projected 2035 size, more than Paris and London combined (22.6m).
the numbers
| Year | Kinshasa (m) | Lagos (m) | Cairo (m) | Dar es Salaam (m) | Paris (m) | London (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 6.3 | 8.4 |
| 1960 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 0.2 | 7.4 | 8.2 |
| 1970 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 5.6 | 0.4 | 8.2 | 7.5 |
| 1980 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 8.7 | 6.8 |
| 1990 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 9.9 | 1.5 | 9.3 | 6.8 |
| 2000 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 13.6 | 2.3 | 9.7 | 7.3 |
| 2010 | 9.4 | 10.4 | 16.9 | 3.9 | 10.5 | 8.0 |
| 2015 | 11.6 | 12.2 | 18.8 | 5.1 | 10.7 | 8.7 |
| 2018 | 13.2 | 13.5 | 20.1 | 6.0 | 10.9 | 9.0 |
| 2020 | 14.3 | 14.4 | 20.9 | 6.7 | 11.0 | 9.3 |
| 2025 | 17.8 | 17.2 | 23.1 | 8.6 | 11.3 | 9.8 |
| 2030 | 21.9 | 20.6 | 25.5 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 10.2 |
| 2035 | 26.7 | 24.4 | 28.5 | 13.4 | 12.1 | 10.6 |
source notes & method
2018 and 2030 values checked against UN 'The World's Cities in 2018' data booklet. Other years taken from the WUP 2018 agglomeration series as republished by populationstat.com and macrotrends.net, because the UN file could not be fetched. Values match the UN booklet. Agglomeration definitions differ by country. WUP 2025 uses a new, non-comparable city definition (Degree of Urbanisation), so this plate keeps the consistent 2018 series. Luanda (7.8m to 12.1m, 2018–2030) and Tokyo (37.5m to 36.6m) are left off to keep six lines.
Published 11 Oct 2026
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