This dataset provides a comprehensive overview of the population statistics for 800 largest cities in the world, detailing the population estimates for the years 2023 and 2024. Additionally, it includes the calculated growth rate for each city over this period. This dataset can be instrumental for urban studies, demographic analysis, and economic research. Columns Description • City: The name of the city. • Country: The country where the city is located. • Population (2024): Estimated population of the city for the year 2024. • Population (2023): Estimated population of the city for the year 2023. • Growth Rate: The rate of population growth from 2023 to 2024. This is calculated as the difference between the 2024 and 2023 populations, divided by the 2023 population.

As of 2025, Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest world urban agglomeration, with 37 million people living there. Delhi ranked second with more than 34 million, with Shanghai in third with more than 30 million inhabitants.

The below dataset shows the top 800 biggest cities in the world and their populations in the year 2024. It also tells us which country and continent each city is in, and their rank based on population size. Here are the top ten cities:

• Tokyo, Japan - in Asia, with 37,115,035 people.
• Delhi, India - in Asia, with 33,807,403 people.
• Shanghai, China - in Asia, with 29,867,918 people.
• Dhaka, Bangladesh - in Asia, with 23,935,652 people.
• Sao Paulo, Brazil - in South America, with 22,806,704 people.
• Cairo, Egypt - in Africa, with 22,623,874 people.
• Mexico City, Mexico - in North America, with 22,505,315 people.
• Beijing, China - in Asia, with 22,189,082 people.
• Mumbai, India - in Asia, with 21,673,149 people.
• Osaka, Japan - in Asia, with 18,967,459 people.

World Cities provides a basemap layer for the cities of the world. The cities include national capitals, provincial capitals, major population centers, and landmark cities. Population estimates are provided for those cities listed in open source data from the United Nations Statistics Division, United Nations Human Settlements Programme, and U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

2007 marked the first year where more of the world's population lived in an urban setting than a rural setting. In 1960, roughly a third of the world lived in an urban setting; it is expected that this figure will reach two thirds by 2050. Urbanization is a fairly new phenomenon; for the vast majority of human history, fewer than five percent of the world lived in urban areas, due to the dependency on subsistence agriculture. Advancements in agricultural practices and technology then coincided with the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe in the late 19th century, which resulted in waves of urbanization to meet the demands of emerging manufacturing industries. This trend was replicated across the rest of the world as it industrialized over the following two centuries, and the most significant increase coincided with the industrialization of the most populous countries in Asia. In more developed economies, urbanization remains high even as economies de-industrialize, due to a variety of factors such as housing availability, labor demands in service industries, and social trends.

This CSV file contains data on major metropolitan areas/cities around the world as of 2022, detailing their estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and population statistics:

Position: An index number starting from 1.

Metropolitan Area/City: The name of the metropolitan area or city.

Country/Region: The country or region where the city is located.

Official est. GDP (billion US$): The estimated GDP of the city in billions of US dollars.

Metropolitan Population: The population of the metropolitan area.

Population of Urban Agglomerations with 300,000 Inhabitants or more in 2014, by city, 1950-2030 (thousands). Data for 1,692 cities contained in the Excel file. Note: Each country has its own definition of what is 'urban' and therefore use exercise caution when comparing cities in different countries. Data available from the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, CD-ROM Edition. Further detail of population estimates, land area, and population density for world urban areas with over 500,000 people (924 areas) is available with Demographia's World Urban Areas report (2014). Much of this data is based on the UN urban agglomerations, though a range of other sources are also used.

The graph shows the proportion of the population in cities worldwide from 1985 to 2050. **** percent of the world's population lived in cities in the year of 2015. This percentage is forecasted to grow to **** percent in the year 2050.

About Dataset

All cities with a population seat of adm div (ca 80.000)Sources and Contributions Sources: GeoNames is aggregating over hundred different data sources. Ambassadors: GeoNames Ambassadors help in many countries. Wiki: A wiki allows you to view the data, quickly fix errors, and add missing places. Donations and Sponsoring: Costs for running GeoNames are covered by donations and sponsoring.enrichment:add country name

Context

Name Country Code Country Name Timezone Population Latitude Longitude Acknowledgments These data come from Maxmind.com and have not been altered. The original source can be found by clicking here

Additionally, Reference https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/ Attributions https://www.geonames.org/about.html

All cities with a population > 1000 or seats of adm div (ca 80.000)Sources and ContributionsSources : GeoNames is aggregating over hundred different data sources. Ambassadors : GeoNames Ambassadors help in many countries. Wiki : A wiki allows to view the data and quickly fix error and add missing places. Donations and Sponsoring : Costs for running GeoNames are covered by donations and sponsoring.Enrichment:add country name

This comprehensive dataset, derived from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2018, provides detailed insights into the global demographic shifts from 1950 to 2050. It covers a wide range of data points including total, urban, and rural populations, alongside growth rates and urbanization trends across different regions, subregions, and countries.

Dataset Files WUP2018-F01-Total_Urban_Rural.xls: Population counts for urban and rural areas as of mid-2018, including percentages. WUP2018-F02-Proportion_Urban.xls: Historical and projected percentages of urban populations from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F03-Urban_Population.xls: Urban population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F04-Rural_Population.xls: Rural population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F05-Total_Population.xls: Total population figures from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F06-Urban_Growth_Rate.xls: Annual urban population growth rates from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F07-Rural_Growth_Rate.xls: Annual rural population growth rates from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F08-Total_Growth_Rate.xls: Total population growth rates from 1950 to 2000. WUP2018-F09-Urbanization_Rate.xls: Changes in the rate of urbanization from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F10-Rate_Proportion_Rural.xls: Changes in the proportion of rural populations from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F18-Total_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual total population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F19-Urban_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual urban population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F20-Rural_Population_Annual.xls: Detailed annual rural population data from 1950 to 2050. WUP2018-F21-Proportion_Urban_Annual.xls: Detailed annual urban population percentages from 1950 to 2050. Potential Uses This dataset is invaluable for researchers, policy makers, urban planners, and sociologists interested in understanding the dynamics of urbanization and its impacts on global development. The data can be used for:

Analyzing trends in urban and rural growth. Forecasting future demographic shifts. Planning for infrastructure, services, and resources in rapidly urbanizing regions. Studying regional differences in development and urbanization.

Source

The data file is from https://simplemaps.com/data/world-cities.

In 2025, approximately 23 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sixth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.75 million inhabitants. Brazil's cities Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 11.45 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.21 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 88 percent of inhabitants living in cities. Mexico City Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks sevenths in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2023, the city registered a crime incidence of 52,723 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 24 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

The Global Urban Polygons and Points Dataset (GUPPD), Version 1 is a global data set of 123,034 urban settlements with place names and population for the years 1975-2030 in five-year increments. The data set builds on and expands the European Commission, Joint Research Centre's (JRC) 2015 Global Human Settlement (GHS) Urban Centre Database (UCDB). The JRC Settlement Model (GHS-SMOD) data set includes a hierarchy of urban settlements, from urban centre (level 30), to dense urban cluster (level 23), to semi-dense urban cluster (level 22). The UCDB only includes level 30, whereas the GUPPDv1 adds levels 23 and 22, and uses open data sources to both check and validate the names that JRC assigned to its UCDB polygons and to label the newly added settlements. The methodology described in the documentation was able to consistently label a greater percentage of UCDB polygons than were previously labeled by JRC.

This dataset presents essential statistics related to global population dynamics. It includes information such as the year, economy, economy label, absolute population values in thousands, and urban population percentages. The dataset covers the period from 1950 to 2050, providing insights into population trends and urbanization patterns across various economies. The columns in data set is

Year Economy
Economy Label
Absolute value in thousands
Absolute value in thousands Missing value
Urban population as percentage of total population
Urban population as percentage of total population Missing value

United States US: Urban Population data was reported at 267,278,643.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 264,746,567.000 Person for 2016. United States US: Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 184,283,180.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 267,278,643.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 126,462,473.000 Person in 1960. United States US: Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Sum;

Actual value and historical data chart for World Urban Population

This statistic shows the projected population of the largest urban agglomerations worldwide in 2035. In that year, the population of the New York-Newark agglomeration in the United States is projected to be **** million people.

The Historical Urban Population, 3700 BC - AD 2000, originally developed by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, is the first spatially explicit global data set containing location and size of urban populations over the last 6,000 years. The data set was created by digitizing, transcribing, and geocoding historical, archaeological, and census-based urban population data. Each data point consists of a city name, latitude, longitude, year, population, and a reliability ranking to assess the geographic uncertainty of each data point. Despite spatial and temporal gaps, no other geocoded data set at this resolution exists. It can therefore be used to investigate long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns, evaluate the current era of urbanization, and build a richer record of urban population through history.