Jakarta, not Tokyo, is the world's largest city
The ten most populous cities in 2025, millions of people, UN Degree of Urbanisation method.
- 1. The world has already passed peak child
- 2. Japan's median age is more than three times Niger's
- 3. South Korea now has a quarter of its 1971 births
- 4. China's population is projected to more than halve by 2100
- 5. Japan now has over 100,000 centenarians, up from 153
- 6. Japan has 9 million empty homes: one in seven
- 7. One in ten in Japan will be foreign by 2070
- 8. Japan's foreign residents have doubled since 2012, passing 4 million
- 9. Jakarta, not Tokyo, is the world's largest city
- 10. Two in three newly licensed UK doctors qualified abroad
- 11. Iran dropped from top refugee host to fifth in 2025
- 12. More Christians live in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else
- 13. Two in three people live where fertility is below replacement
- 14. Japan's births fell below half their 1899 level
- 15. DR Congo now has more children than Brazil
- 16. Brazil now has more people over 65 than Germany
- 17. Egypt has more asylum seekers than Germany, Spain and Italy
- 18. 34 countries and territories are past their population peak
- 19. Chile's fertility rate fell below Italy's and Japan's
- 20. Nigeria now has almost 25 million more people than Brazil
- 21. Thailand's births have fallen below its deaths
- 22. Women hold at least half the seats in seven parliaments
- 23. Child marriage in South Asia has nearly halved since 2005
- 24. Six in ten child deaths now happen in sub-Saharan Africa
Jakarta tops the UN's 2025 ranking, ahead of Dhaka (36.6m) and Tokyo (33.4m).
Nine of the ten largest cities are in Asia. Cairo, 7th at 25.6 million, is the only exception.
Dhaka is projected to pass Jakarta (51.8m) by 2050, while Tokyo shrinks to 30.7m.
the numbers & method
| Population, 2025 (M) | |
|---|---|
| Jakarta, Indonesia | 41.9 |
| Dhaka, Bangladesh | 36.6 |
| Tokyo, Japan | 33.4 |
| New Delhi, India | 30.2 |
| Shanghai, China | 29.6 |
| Guangzhou, China | 27.6 |
| Cairo, Egypt | 25.6 |
| Manila, Philippines | 24.7 |
| Kolkata, India | 22.6 |
| Seoul, South Korea | 22.5 |
Claim types Estimate · Forecast · Interpretation
Values are UN estimates for 2025. WUP 2025 switched to the harmonised Degree of Urbanisation method, which defines cities by contiguous built-up density, not national administrative boundaries. Much of Jakarta's and Dhaka's lead over Tokyo comes from this change in method, not only from growth (interpretation). Full top-10 values from Destatis' table citing WUP 2025; top three confirmed by UN DESA press release (rounded: 'nearly 42', 'almost 40', '33' million — the UN's 'almost 40' for Dhaka is looser than its 36.6m data value). One press report gives Cairo 32m; Destatis' 25.6m is used as it matches the UN's rank order. 2050 projections (medium scenario) via Katadata quoting WUP 2025.
Published 3 Nov 2026
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