Russia's capital, Moscow, was the largest city in the country with over **** million residents as of January 1, 2024. Less than a half of Moscow's population resided in Saint Petersburg, the second-most populous city in the country. The third-largest city, Novosibirsk, was located in the Siberian Federal District, being the highest-populated city in the Asian part of Russia. Why is Moscow so populated? The Russian capital is the center of political, industrial, business, and cultural life in Russia. Despite being one of the most expensive cities worldwide, it continues to attract people from Russia and abroad, with its resident population following a generally upward trend over the past decade. Wages in Moscow are higher than in Russia on average, and more opportunities for employment and investment are available in the capital. Furthermore, the number of people living in Moscow was forecast to continue rising, exceeding **** million by 2035. Urbanization in Russia In 2024, around *** million Russian residents lived in cities. That was approximately three-quarters of the country’s population. The urbanization rate increased steadily over the 20th century, leading to a decline in the rural population. Among the country’s regions, the Northwestern Federal District had the highest share of residents in urban areas, measured at ** percent. In the Central Federal District, the tendency was that more people moved to Moscow and cities in the Moscow Oblast.

Among Russian cities with more than one million inhabitants, the country's capital Moscow received the highest urban environmental quality index score of *** out of 360 points in 2024, based on six criteria and six types of area. The second-leading city in this category was Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, while Kazan ranked third.

Population in largest city in Russia was reported at 12712305 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Russia was reported at 11.72 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Among Russian cities with 100,000 to 250,000 inhabitants, Reutov, located in the Moscow Oblast, received the highest urban environmental quality index score of 301 out of 360 points in 2024, based on six criteria and six types of area. The second-leading city in this category was Krasnogorsk.

With a score of *****, Moscow was the leading city for startups in Russia in 2024. Saint Petersburg followed, having earned a score of **** in the period observed. Furthermore, the Russia's capital ranked the major city for startups in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The score was based on several indicators, such as the number of startups in each city, the startups' qualitative results, and the cities' business and economic indicators.

In 2025, Moscow was the largest city in Europe with an estimated urban agglomeration of 12.74 million people. The French capital, Paris, was the second largest city in 2025 at 11.35 million, followed by the capitals of the United Kingdom and Spain, with London at 9.84 million and Madrid at 6.81 million people. Istanbul, which would otherwise be the largest city in Europe in 2025, is excluded as it is only partially in Europe, with a sizeable part of its population living in Asia. Europe’s population is almost 750 million Since 1950, the population of Europe has increased by approximately 200 million people, increasing from 550 million to 750 million in these seventy years. Before the turn of the millennium, Europe was the second-most populated continent, before it was overtaken by Africa, which saw its population increase from 228 million in 1950 to 817 million by 2000. Asia has consistently had the largest population of the world’s continents and was estimated to have a population of 4.6 billion. Europe’s largest countries Including its territory in Asia, Russia is by far the largest country in the world, with a territory of around 17 million square kilometers, almost double that of the next largest country, Canada. Within Europe, Russia also has the continent's largest population at 145 million, followed by Germany at 83 million and the United Kingdom at almost 68 million. By contrast, Europe is also home to various micro-states such as San Marino, which has a population of just 30 thousand.

This database provides construction of Large Urban Regions (LUR) in Russia. A Large Urban Region (LUR) can be defined as an aggregation of continuous statistical units around a core that are economically dependent on this core and linked to it by economic and social strong interdependences. The main purpose of this delineation is to make cities comparable on the national and world scales and to make comparative social-economic urban studies. Aggregating different municipal districts around a core city, we construct a single large urban region, which allows to include all the area of economic influence of a core into one statistical unit (see Rogov & Rozenblat, 2020 for more details) thus, changing a city position in a global urban hierarchy. In doing so we use four principal urban concepts (Pumain et al., 1992): political definition, morphological definition, functional definition and conurbation that we call Large Urban Region. We constructed Russian LURs using criteria such as population distribution, road networks, access to an airport, distance from a core, presence of multinational firms. In this database, we provide population data for LURs and their administrative units.

On Sunday, September 12, 2021, the highest self-isolation index among Russian cities with over *********** inhabitants was measured in Omsk at *** points, indicating that there was a high number of people on the streets. In the capital Moscow, where most COVID-19 cases in Russia were recorded, the index reached *** points. The non-working period in Russia ended on May 12, 2020.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

The statistic shows the 30 largest countries in the world by area. Russia is the largest country by far, with a total area of about 17 million square kilometers.

Population of Russia

Despite its large area, Russia - nowadays the largest country in the world - has a relatively small total population. However, its population is still rather large in numbers in comparison to those of other countries. In mid-2014, it was ranked ninth on a list of countries with the largest population, a ranking led by China with a population of over 1.37 billion people. In 2015, the estimated total population of Russia amounted to around 146 million people. The aforementioned low population density in Russia is a result of its vast landmass; in 2014, there were only around 8.78 inhabitants per square kilometer living in the country. Most of the Russian population lives in the nation’s capital and largest city, Moscow: In 2015, over 12 million people lived in the metropolis.

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in 3 Largest Cities for Russian Federation (RUSFCACLNUM) from 2008 to 2015 about ATM, Russia, banks, and depository institutions.

As of September 2020, Moscow had the biggest amount of public routes, among which the largest number was accounted for bus routes and tram lines. The Russian northern capital Saint Petersburg, followed next with a total number of *** routes of public transport.

As of January 1, 2025, ***** million inhabitants lived in Russian cities, opposed to **** million people living in the countryside. The rural population of Russia saw a gradual decrease over the observed time period.

Russia Number of Foreign Capital Enterprises: BM: CF: City of Moscow data was reported at 4,047.000 Unit in Dec 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,882.000 Unit for Sep 2016. Russia Number of Foreign Capital Enterprises: BM: CF: City of Moscow data is updated quarterly, averaging 3,473.000 Unit from Jun 2000 (Median) to Dec 2016, with 67 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,751.000 Unit in Dec 2012 and a record low of 2,046.000 Unit in Mar 2014. Russia Number of Foreign Capital Enterprises: BM: CF: City of Moscow data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal State Statistics Service. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Investment – Table RU.OE001: Number of Foreign Capital Enterprises: Big and Medium: by Region (Discontinued).

Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: NW: City of St Petersburg data was reported at 460,589.000 RUB mn in Jul 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 657,325.000 RUB mn for Jun 2023. Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: NW: City of St Petersburg data is updated monthly, averaging 36,293.922 RUB mn from May 2000 (Median) to Jul 2023, with 279 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 657,325.000 RUB mn in Jun 2023 and a record low of 473.000 RUB mn in Jan 2001. Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: NW: City of St Petersburg data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal State Statistics Service. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Investment – Table RU.OD008: Enterprises Balance (Profit less Loss): Big and Medium: ytd: Loss: by Region.

Moscow had nearly ** CCTV cameras per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023. In total, ******* such devices were recorded in the Russian capital. The second-largest city of the country, Saint Petersburg, recorded a density of approximately **** surveillance cameras per 1,000 population.

In Moscow, approximately ** CCTV cameras were installed per square kilometer as of November 2020. That was nearly twice as many as in Russia's second largest city, Saint Petersburg. The capital also had a higher density of surveillance cameras by thousand inhabitants.

Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: CF: City of Moscow data was reported at 1,312,888.000 RUB mn in Jul 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,135,790.000 RUB mn for Jun 2023. Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: CF: City of Moscow data is updated monthly, averaging 211,985.124 RUB mn from May 2000 (Median) to Jul 2023, with 279 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,238,059.000 RUB mn in Dec 2022 and a record low of 2,481.000 RUB mn in Jan 2001. Loss Amount: Big & Medium Enterprises: Year to Date: CF: City of Moscow data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal State Statistics Service. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Investment – Table RU.OD008: Enterprises Balance (Profit less Loss): Big and Medium: ytd: Loss: by Region.

Kyiv is the largest city of Ukraine, with approximately 2.95 million inhabitants as of January 1, 2022. Kharkiv had the second-largest population of around 1.42 million, followed by Odesa and Dnipro. Economic situation in Ukraine Ukraine has a population of around 42 million inhabitants - close to 70 percent of which live in urban areas, with almost three million living in Ukraine’s largest city and capital, Kyiv. The city is located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River and is one of the largest in Europe. The country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is about half of Kyiv's size and located in the northeast. Kharkiv was the first city to be occupied by the Soviet Union in 1917 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since the collapse, Ukraine has been largely divided between east and west. Many inhabitants speak Ukrainian to the west, whereas Russian is dominant in parts of the east and south. Like Kharkiv, many of Ukraine’s other biggest cities which have fewer than one million inhabitants are located to the east of the country – a region which has uprooted and displaced many of its inhabitants because of the military actions that started in 2014. In 2015, Ukrainians across the country were affected by a huge spike in inflation, which reached near 49 percent. In the following years, it marked a decrease, measuring below three percent in 2020. The country’s GDP has also been significantly impacted by the crisis, which has left approximately 1.5 million Ukrainians internally displaced since 2014, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The unemployment rate was above nine percent in 2020.

Customers of bookstores located in Moscow and Saint Petersburg spent more than those in other regions of Russia in January 2023. Over ** percent of consumers in the country's two largest cities spent at least *** Russian rubles on average in bookstores, while the largest share of buyers in other localities nationwide expended less than *** Russian rubles.