Delhi was the largest city in terms of number of inhabitants in India in 2023.The capital city was estimated to house nearly 33 million people, with Mumbai ranking second that year. India's population estimate was 1.4 billion, ahead of China that same year.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in India was reported at 6.3201 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The population in New Delhi was approximately **** million, the most among the leading Indian cities in 2019. Mumbai and Kolkata rounded up the three most populated cities across the country that year.

Population in largest city in India was reported at 33807403 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Japan’s largest city, greater Tokyo, had a staggering 37.19 million inhabitants in 2023, making it the most populous city across the Asia-Pacific region. India had the second largest city after Japan with a population consisting of approximately 33 million inhabitants. Contrastingly, approximately 410 thousand inhabitants populated Papua New Guinea's largest city in 2023. A megacity regionNot only did Japan and India have the largest cities throughout the Asia-Pacific region but they were among the three most populated cities worldwide in 2023. Interestingly, over half on the world’s megacities were situated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, being home to more than half of the world’s population, it does not seem surprising that by 2025 it is expected that more than two thirds of the megacities across the globe will be located in the Asia Pacific region. Other megacities are also expected to emerge within the Asia-Pacific region throughout the next decade. There have even been suggestions that Indonesia’s Jakarta and its conurbation will overtake Greater Tokyo in terms of population size by 2030. Increasing populationsIncreased populations in megacities can be down to increased economic activity. As more countries across the Asia-Pacific region have made the transition from agriculture to industry, the population has adjusted accordingly. Thus, more regions have experienced higher shares of urban populations. However, as many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul have an aging population, this may have an impact on their future population sizes, with these Asian regions estimated to have significant shares of the population being over 65 years old by 2035.

Content

The data set contains geolocations of all the cities in India with a population of more than 1000.

There are total 10 columns in the dataset. Geoname - Unique Geo-ID for the city Name - Name of the city ACSII Name - ASCII name of the city for interpretability Alternate Names - Alternate names for the city Latitude - Latitude of the city Longitude - Longitude of the city Population - Population of the city Digital Elevation Model - Digital elevation of the city Country - Country of the city Coordinates - Coordinates of the city

Acknowledgements

The data set is contributed by opendatasoft Data Network

It is estimated that more than 8 billion people live on Earth and the population is likely to hit more than 9 billion by 2050. Approximately 55 percent of Earth’s human population currently live in areas classified as urban. That number is expected to grow by 2050 to 68 percent, according to the United Nations (UN).The largest cities in the world include Tōkyō, Japan; New Delhi, India; Shanghai, China; México City, Mexico; and São Paulo, Brazil. Each of these cities classifies as a megacity, a city with more than 10 million people. The UN estimates the world will have 43 megacities by 2030.Most cities' populations are growing as people move in for greater economic, educational, and healthcare opportunities. But not all cities are expanding. Those cities whose populations are declining may be experiencing declining fertility rates (the number of births is lower than the number of deaths), shrinking economies, emigration, or have experienced a natural disaster that resulted in fatalities or forced people to leave the region.This Global Cities map layer contains data published in 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). It shows urban agglomerations. The UN DESA defines an urban agglomeration as a continuous area where population is classified at urban levels (by the country in which the city resides) regardless of what local government systems manage the area. Since not all places record data the same way, some populations may be calculated using the city population as defined by its boundary and the metropolitan area. If a reliable estimate for the urban agglomeration was unable to be determined, the population of the city or metropolitan area is used.Data Citation: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. Statistical Papers - United Nations (ser. A), Population and Vital Statistics Report, 2019, https://doi.org/10.18356/b9e995fe-en.

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.

Census: Population: City: Mumbai data was reported at 12,442.373 Person th in 03-01-2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 16,368.000 Person th for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: City: Mumbai data is updated decadal, averaging 12,596.000 Person th from Mar 1991 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16,368.000 Person th in 03-01-2001 and a record low of 12,442.373 Person th in 03-01-2011. Census: Population: City: Mumbai data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAB004: Census: Population: by Selected Cities.

Census: Population: City: Dhanbad data was reported at 1,162.472 Person th in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,064.000 Person th for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: City: Dhanbad data is updated decadal, averaging 1,064.000 Person th from Mar 1991 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,162.472 Person th in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 815.000 Person th in 03-01-1991. Census: Population: City: Dhanbad data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAB004: Census: Population: by Selected Cities.

In 2023, approximately a third of the total population in India lived in cities. The trend shows an increase of urbanization by more than 4 percent in the last decade, meaning people have moved away from rural areas to find work and make a living in the cities. Leaving the fieldOver the last decade, urbanization in India has increased by almost 4 percent, as more and more people leave the agricultural sector to find work in services. Agriculture plays a significant role in the Indian economy and it employs almost half of India’s workforce today, however, its contribution to India’s GDP has been decreasing while the services sector gained in importance. No rural exodus in sightWhile urbanization is increasing as more jobs in telecommunications and IT are created and the private sector gains in importance, India is not facing a shortage of agricultural workers or a mass exodus to the cities yet. India is a very densely populated country with vast areas of arable land – over 155 million hectares of land was cultivated land in India as of 2015, for example, and textiles, especially cotton, are still one of the major exports. So while a shift of the workforce focus is obviously taking place, India is not struggling to fulfill trade demands yet.

Urban population (% of total population) in India was reported at 36.87 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Urban population (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Mumbai, India metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Rural population (% of total population) in India was reported at 63.13 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Abstract

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) was carried out as the principal activity of a collaborative project to strengthen the research capabilities of the Population Reasearch Centres (PRCs) in India, initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, and coordinated by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Bombay. Interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of 89,777 ever-married women in the age group 13-49, from 24 states and the National Capital Territoty of Delhi. The main objective of the survey was to collect reliable and up-to-date information on fertility, family planning, mortality, and maternal and child health. Data collection was carried out in three phases from April 1992 to September 1993. THe NFHS is one of the most complete surveys of its kind ever conducted in India.

The households covered in the survey included 500,492 residents. The young age structure of the population highlights the momentum of the future population growth of the country; 38 percent of household residents are under age 15, with their reproductive years still in the future. Persons age 60 or older constitute 8 percent of the population. The population sex ratio of the de jure residents is 944 females per 1,000 males, which is slightly higher than sex ratio of 927 observed in the 1991 Census.

The primary objective of the NFHS is to provide national-level and state-level data on fertility, nuptiality, family size preferences, knowledge and practice of family planning, the potentiel demand for contraception, the level of unwanted fertility, utilization of antenatal services, breastfeeding and food supplemation practises, child nutrition and health, immunizations, and infant and child mortality. The NFHS is also designed to explore the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of fertility, family planning, and maternal and child health. This information is intended to assist policymakers, adminitrators and researchers in assessing and evaluating population and family welfare programmes and strategies. The NFHS used uniform questionnaires and uniform methods of sampling, data collection and analysis with the primary objective of providing a source of demographic and health data for interstate comparisons. The data collected in the NFHS are also comparable with those of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in many other countries.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Household
• Data collected for women 13-49, indicators calculated for women 15-49

Universe

The population covered by the 1992-93 DHS is defined as the universe of all women age 13-49 who were either permanent residents of the households in the NDHS sample or visitors present in the households on the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed.

Kind of data

Sample survey data

Sampling procedure

SAMPLE DESIGN

The sample design for the NFHS was discussed during a Sample Design Workshop held in Madurai in Octber, 1991. The workshop was attended by representative from the PRCs; the COs; the Office of the Registrar General, India; IIPS and the East-West Center/Macro International. A uniform sample design was adopted in all the NFHS states. The Sample design adopted in each state is a systematic, stratified sample of households, with two stages in rural areas and three stages in urban areas.

SAMPLE SIZE AND ALLOCATION

The sample size for each state was specified in terms of a target number of completed interviews with eligible women. The target sample size was set considering the size of the state, the time and ressources available for the survey and the need for separate estimates for urban and rural areas of the stat. The initial target sample size was 3,000 completed interviews with eligible women for states having a population of 25 million or less in 1991; 4,000 completed interviews for large states with more than 25 million population; 8,000 for Uttar Pradesh, the largest state; and 1,000 each for the six small northeastern states. In States with a substantial number of backward districts, the initial target samples were increased so as to allow separate estimates to be made for groups of backward districts.

The urban and rural samples within states were drawn separetly and , to the extent possible, sample allocation was proportional to the size of the urban-rural populations (to facilitate the selection of a self-weighting sample for each state). In states where the urban population was not sufficiently large to provide a sample of at least 1,000 completed interviews with eligible women, the urban areas were appropriately oversampled (except in the six small northeastern states).

THE RURAL SAMPLE: THE FRAME, STRATIFICATION AND SELECTION

A two-stage stratified sampling was adopted for the rural areas: selection of villages followed by selection of households. Because the 1991 Census data were not available at the time of sample selection in most states, the 1981 Census list of villages served as the sampling frame in all the states with the exception of Assam, Delhi and Punjab. In these three states the 1991 Census data were used as the sampling frame.

Villages were stratified prior to selection on the basis of a number of variables. The firts level of stratification in all the states was geographic, with districts subdivided into regions according to their geophysical characteristics. Within each of these regions, villages were further stratified using some of the following variables : village size, distance from the nearest town, proportion of nonagricultural workers, proportion of the population belonging to scheduled castes/scheduled tribes, and female literacy. However, not all variables were used in every state. Each state was examined individually and two or three variables were selected for stratification, with the aim of creating not more than 12 strata for small states and not more than 15 strata for large states. Females literacy was often used for implicit stratification (i.e., the villages were ordered prior to selection according to the proportion of females who were literate). Primary sampling Units (PSUs) were selected systematically, with probaility proportional to size (PPS). In some cases, adjacent villages with small population sizes were combined into a single PSU for the purpose of sample selection. On average, 30 households were selected for interviewing in each selected PSU.

In every state, all the households in the selected PSUs were listed about two weeks prior to the survey. This listing provided the necessary frame for selecting households at the second sampling stage. The household listing operation consisted of preparing up-to-date notional and layout sketch maps of each selected PSU, assigning numbers to structures, recording addresses (or locations) of these structures, identifying the residential structures, and listing the names of the heads of all the households in the residentiak structures in the selected PSU. Each household listing team consisted of a lister and a mapper. The listing operation was supervised by the senior field staff of the concerned CO and the PRC in each state. Special efforts were made not to miss any household in the selected PSU during the listing operation. In PSUs with fewer than 500 households, a complete household listing was done. In PSUs with 500 or more households, segmentation of the PSU was done on the basis of existing wards in the PSU, and two segments were selected using either systematic sampling or PPS sampling. The household listing in such PSUs was carried out in the selected segments. The households to be interviewed were selected from provided with the original household listing, layout sketch map and the household sample selected for each PSU. All the selected households were approached during the data collection, and no substitution of a household was allowed under any circumstances.

THE RURAL URBAN SAMPLE: THE FRAME, STRATIFICATION AND SELECTION

A three-stage sample design was adopted for the urban areas in each state: selection of cities/towns, followed by urban blocks, and finally households. Cities and towns were selected using the 1991 population figures while urban blocks were selected using the 1991 list of census enumeration blocks in all the states with the exception of the firts phase states. For the first phase states, the list of urban blocks provided by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSSO) served as the sampling frame.

All cities and towns were subdivided into three strata: (1) self-selecting cities (i.e., cities with a population large enough to be selected with certainty), (2) towns that are district headquaters, and (3) other towns. Within each stratum, the cities/towns were arranged according to the same kind of geographic stratification used in the rural areas. In self-selecting cities, the sample was selected according to a two-stage sample design: selection of the required number of urban blocks, followed by selection of households in each of selected blocks. For district headquarters and other towns, a three stage sample design was used: selection of towns with PPS, followed by selection of two census blocks per selected town, followed by selection of households from each selected block. As in rural areas, a household listing was carried out in the selected blocks, and an average of 20 households per block was selected systematically.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face

Research instrument

Three types of questionnaires were used in the NFHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Women's Questionnaire, and the Village Questionnaire. The overall content

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Bangalore, India metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Abstract

The Employment and Unemployment surveys of National sample Survey (NSS) are primary sources of data on various indicators of labour force at National and State levels. These are used for planning, policy formulation, decision support and as input for further statistical exercises by various Government organizations, academicians, researchers and scholars. NSS surveys on employment and un-employment with large sample size of households have been conducted quinquennially from 27th. round(October'1972 - September'1973) onwards. Cotinuing in this series the fourth such all-india survey on the situation of employment and unemployment in India was carried out during the period july 1987 - june 1988 .

The working Group set up for planning of the entire scheme of the survey, among other things, examined also in detail some of the key results generated from the 38th round data and recommended some stream-lining of the 38th round schedule for the use in the 43rd round. Further, it felt no need for changing the engaging the easting conceptual frame work. However, some additional items were recommended to be included in the schedule to obtain the necessary and relevant information for generating results to see the effects on participation rates in view of the ILO suggestions.5.0.1. The NSSO Governing Council approved the recommendations of the working Group and also the schedule of enquiry in its 44th meeting held on 16 January, 1987. In this survey, a nation-wide enquiry was conducted to provide estimates on various characteristics pertaining to employment and unemployment in India and some characteristics associated with them at the national and state levels. Information on various facets of employment and unemployment in India was collected through a schedule of enquiry (schedule 10).

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of Indian Union excepting i) Ladakh and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir ii) Rural areas of Nagaland

Analysis unit

Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

It may be mentioned here that in order to net more households of the upper income bracket in the Sample , significant changes have been made in the sample design in this round (compares to the design of the 38th round).

SAMPLE DESIGN AND SAMPLE SIZE The survey had a two-stage stratified design. The first stage units (f.s.u.'s) are villages in the rural sector and urban blocks in the urban sector. The second stage units are households in both the sectors. Sampling frame for f.s.u.'s : The lists of 1981 census villages constituted the sampling frame for rural sector in most districts. But the 1981 census frame could not be used for a few districts because, either the 1981 census was not held there or the list of 1981 census villages could not be obtained or the lists obtained from the census authorities were found to be grossly incomplete. In such cases 1971 census frame were used. In the urban sector , the Urban Frame Survey (U.F.S.) blocks constituted the sampling frame. STRATIFICATION : States were first divided into agro-economic regions which are groups of contiguous districts , similar with respect to population density and crop pattern. In Gujarat, however , some districts have been split for the purpose of region formation In consideration of the location of dry areas and the distribution of the tribal population in the state. The composition of the regions is given in the Appendix. RURAL SECTOR: In the rural sector, within each region, each district with 1981Census rural population less 1.8 million formed a single stratum. Districts with larger population were divided into two or more strata, depending on population, by grouping contiguous tehsils similar, as for as possible, in respect of rural population Density and crop pattern. (In Gujarat, however , in the case of districts extending over more than one region, even if the rural population was less than 1.8 million, the portion of a district falling in each region constituted a separate stratum. Further ,in Assam the old "basic strata" formed on the basis of 1971 census rural population exactly in the above manner, but with cut-off population as 1.5 million have been retained as the strata for rural sampling.) URBAN SECTOR : In the urban sector , strata were formed , again within NSS region , on the basis of the population size class of towns . Each city with population 10 lakhs or more is self-representative , as in the earlier rounds . For the purpose of stratification, in towns with '81 census population 4 lakhs or more , the blocks have been divided into two categories , viz . : One consisting of blocks in areas inhabited by the relatively affluent section of the population and the other consisting of the remaining blocks. The strata within each region were constituted as follows :

Table (1.2) : Composition of urban strata

Stratum population class of town

number

(1) (2)

1 all towns with population less than 50,000 2 -do- 50,000 - 199,999 3 -do- 200,000 - 399,999 4 -do- 400,000 - 999,999 ( affluent area) 5 (other area) 6 a single city with population 1 million and above (affluent area) 7 " (other area) 8 another city with population 1 million and above

9 " (other area)

Note : There is no region with more than one city with population 1 million and above. The stratum number have been retained as above even if in some regions some of the strata are empty. Allocation for first stage units : The total all-India sample size was allocated to the states /U.T.'s proportionate to the strength of central field staff. This was allocated to the rural and urban sectors considering the relative size of the rural and urban population. Now the rural samples were allocated to the rural strata in proportion to rural population. The urban samples were allocated to the urban strata in proportion to urban population with double weight age given to those strata of towns with population 4 lakhs or more which lie in area inhabited by the relatively affluent section. All allocations have been adjusted such that the sample size for stratum was at least a multiple of 4 (preferably multiple of 8) and the total sample size of a region is a multiple of 8 for the rural and urban sectors separately.
Selection of f.s.u.'s : The sample villages have been selected circular systematically with probability proportional to population in the form of two independent interpenetrating sub-samples (IPNS) . The sample blocks have been selected circular systematically with equal probability , also in the form of two IPNS' s. As regards the rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh, the procedure of 'cluster sampling' was:- The field staff will be supplied with a list of the nucleus villages of each cluster and they selected the remaining villages of the cluster according to the procedure described in Section Two. The nucleus villages were selected circular systematically with equal probability, in the form of two IPNS 's. Hamlet-group and sub-blocks : Large villages and blocks were sub- divided into a suitable number of hamlet-groups and sub-blocks respectively having equal population convent and one them was selected at random for surveys. Hamlet-group and sub-blocks : Large villages and blocks were sub- divided into a suitable number of hamlet-groups and sub-blocks respectively having equal population convent and one them was selected at random for surveys. Selection of households : rural : In order to have adequate number of sample households from the affluent section of the society, some new procedures were introduced for selection of sample households, both in the rural and urban sectors. In the rural sector , while listing households, the investigator identified the households in village/ selected hamlet- group which may be considered to be relatively more affluent than the rest. This was done largely on the basis of his own judgment but while exercising his judgment considered factors generally associated with rich people in the localitysuch as : living in large pucca house in well-maintained state, ownership/possession of cultivated/irrigated land in excess of certain norms. ( e.g.20 acres of cultivated land or 10 acres of irrigated land), ownership of motor vehicles and costly consumer durables like T.V. , VCR, VCP AND refrigerator, ownership of large business establishment , etc. Now these "rich" households will form sub-stratum 1. (If the total number of households listed is 80 or more , 10 relatively most affluent households will form sub-stratum 1. If it is below 80, 8 such households will form sub-stratum 1. The remaining households will 'constitute sub-stratum 2. At the time of listing, information relating to each household' s major sources of income will be collected, on the basis of which its means of livelihood will be identified as one of the following : "self-employed in non-agriculture " "rural labour" and "others" (see section Two for definition of these terms) . Also the area of land possessed as on date of survey will be ascertained from all households while listing. Now the households of sub-stratum 2 will be arranged in the order : (1)self-employed in non-agriculture, (2) rural labour, other households, with land possessed (acres) : (3) less than 1.00 (4) 1.00-2.49,(5)2.50-4.99, (6)

In 2022, the union territory of Delhi had the highest urban population density of over 18 thousand persons per square kilometer. While the rural population density was highest in union territory of Puducherry, followed by the state of Bihar.

The Bureau of the Census has released Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF1) 100-Percent data. The file includes the following population items: sex, age, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, household relationship, and household and family characteristics. Housing items include occupancy status and tenure (whether the unit is owner or renter occupied). SF1 does not include information on incomes, poverty status, overcrowded housing or age of housing. These topics will be covered in Summary File 3. Data are available for states, counties, county subdivisions, places, census tracts, block groups, and, where applicable, American Indian and Alaskan Native Areas and Hawaiian Home Lands. The SF1 data are available on the Bureau's web site and may be retrieved from American FactFinder as tables, lists, or maps. Users may also download a set of compressed ASCII files for each state via the Bureau's FTP server. There are over 8000 data items available for each geographic area. The full listing of these data items is available here as a downloadable compressed data base file named TABLES.ZIP. The uncompressed is in FoxPro data base file (dbf) format and may be imported to ACCESS, EXCEL, and other software formats. While all of this information is useful, the Office of Community Planning and Development has downloaded selected information for all states and areas and is making this information available on the CPD web pages. The tables and data items selected are those items used in the CDBG and HOME allocation formulas plus topics most pertinent to the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS), the Consolidated Plan, and similar overall economic and community development plans. The information is contained in five compressed (zipped) dbf tables for each state. When uncompressed the tables are ready for use with FoxPro and they can be imported into ACCESS, EXCEL, and other spreadsheet, GIS and database software. The data are at the block group summary level. The first two characters of the file name are the state abbreviation. The next two letters are BG for block group. Each record is labeled with the code and name of the city and county in which it is located so that the data can be summarized to higher-level geography. The last part of the file name describes the contents . The GEO file contains standard Census Bureau geographic identifiers for each block group, such as the metropolitan area code and congressional district code. The only data included in this table is total population and total housing units. POP1 and POP2 contain selected population variables and selected housing items are in the HU file. The MA05 table data is only for use by State CDBG grantees for the reporting of the racial composition of beneficiaries of Area Benefit activities. The complete package for a state consists of the dictionary file named TABLES, and the five data files for the state. The logical record number (LOGRECNO) links the records across tables.

Census: Population: Maharashtra: Navi Mumbai data was reported at 1,120,547.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 81,855.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: Maharashtra: Navi Mumbai data is updated decadal, averaging 81,855.000 Person from Mar 1991 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,120,547.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 42,732.000 Person in 03-01-1991. Census: Population: Maharashtra: Navi Mumbai data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAC021: Census: Population: By Towns and Urban Agglomerations: Maharashtra.