Before seeing the most populous cities, two thousand years ago, 170 million people shared planet Earth, according to WorldPopulationHistory.org. Since then, the human race has been on an upward trajectory: 8 billion inhabitants in 2023 and 10 billion expected by the 22ndand century.
According to the United Nations, the growth of the planet’s population presents many challenges. Especially as countries seek to achieve sustainability goals by 2030. Basically, the more humans on Earth, the more resources we need like food, water, and land to feed them, the more resources we deprive of other species, and the more waste we produce.
However, population growth is slowing down and, in some countries, is even declining, according to the United Nations. Here we present the 20 most populous metropolitan areas on the planet.
20. Tianjin, China
Current Population: 14,470,873
The population of this 12,000-square-kilometer port city in northeastern China grew by 188% between 1953 and 1982. Fortunately, growth has slowed considerably since then – only 1.3% between 2018 and 2019 – but it shows no signs of stabilising or even retreating. The manufacturing industry, the city’s main driving force, explains its rapid and constant growth.
Guangzhou, China
Current population: 14,590,096
In 1950, the population of Tianjin was 2,467,096. Over the past year, the population of Tianjin has increased by 232,230 people, which is an annual variation of 1.63%! Located in the north of China, this little-known city in the eyes of the international community is in fact the largest port in the north of the country, which has allowed it to become an important commercial center.
Take advantage of your stay in Guangzhou to visit one of the 12 dizzying viewpoints in the world.
18. Manila, Philippines
Current Population: 14,941,953
Manila’s population growth has slowed over the years due to the increase in the number of residents in the surrounding suburbs. But the city is no less overcrowded. In fact, it’s the most densely populated municipality in the world, averaging 14,500 people per square kilometer, and a peak of 70,000 people per square kilometer in the city’s densest neighborhood, according to New Geography.
With the arrival in Manila of many poor migrants from rural areas, the city will continue to grow. This will not fail to put additional pressure on resources.
17. Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta)
Current Population: 15,570,786
With India (1.4 billion) and China (1.4 billion) being the two most populous countries in the world, it’s no surprise that cities in both countries are among the most populated.
A former trading post of the East Indian Company and home to Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, Kolkata is India’s third most populous metropolitan area – a trend that is slowing but, thanks to the growing popularity of its suburbs, shows no sign of reversing anytime soon.
16. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Current Population: 15,618,288
The center of Argentina’s capital city is home to just 3 million people, but its vast 2,681-square-kilometer metropolitan area is the second-largest in population in South America.
While the suburbs of the greater metropolitan area have grown over the past 70 years, the population of the city center has remained fairly constant—the country’s economic stagnation has made people more likely to leave the city than move in.
15. Istanbul, Türkiye (formerly Constantinople)
Current Population: 16,047,350
Istanbul is one of the most populous cities in Europe, according to the World Population Review (although technically half of this megacity is in Asia). That’s a big improvement considering it was the most populous city in the world in 1502. The city’s population doubled in the 1980s, when its boundaries expanded dramatically.
It’s home to the world’s largest airport, which is a lucky coincidence since it’s one of the fastest-growing metropolises. And you should see the Blue Mosque, one of the most beautiful structures in the world!
14. Lagos, Nigeria
Current population: 16,536,018
This port city is the largest on the African continent. It originally occupied only a few sheltered islands (notably Lagos Island) in a lagoon on the Atlantic Ocean, but has since expanded more than 50 kilometres inland and now covers about 452 square kilometres.
Its diverse population is drawn from about 250 groups, many of whom have migrated from rural Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The vast majority of the population – 66% – live in slums.
13. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Current Population: 17,032,322
While Kinshasa didn’t make our list a few years ago, it quickly jumped to 13th place. The capital is growing rapidly, with a growth rate of 4.3% between 2022 and 2023. The 17 million figure is even more incredible when you consider that in 1950, the city’s population was only 201,905. Kinshasa’s population may seem huge, but it’s a relative number compared to the world’s population.
12. Karachi, Pakistan
Current population: 17,648,555
According to a World Bank report, one-fifth of Pakistan’s urban population resides in this “megalopolis,” once the country’s capital. Although the number of its residents has climbed by 2.3% since 2022, its quality of life is plummeting, with violent crime, inequality and financial instability making development challenges even more important.
With its 24,000 inhabitants per square kilometre, Karachi is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Pakistan contains one of the 18 most dangerous roads in the world.
11. Chongqing, China
Current Population: 17,773,923
Like many other cities in Asia, Chongqing has seen a strong population growth since 2022 – 2.5%. In fact, Chongqing is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and as the World Population Review points out, that’s not going to change anytime soon.
The rapid expansion of the urban area is not Chongqing’s only problem, however: its workforce is shrinking while its population is aging – a worrying fact considering that the total population of the entire Chongqing municipality currently stands at a staggering 33 million.
10. Osaka, Japan
Current Population: 18,967,459
The number of people living in Japan’s third-largest metropolitan area, known for the quality of its street food, is declining – it has dropped by 0.2% since 2022. But in the same period, nearly 20,000 more people have crammed into the larger Kansai region (which includes the city of Osaka), making living conditions more difficult.
In fact, 7% of Japan’s total population lives in an even more populated space in this region, whether in the city of Osaka itself or in one of its 42 municipalities.
9. Mumbai, India (formerly Mumbai)
Current Population: 21,673,149
India’s second largest metropolitan area has the largest urban population. Its trains alone carry at least 6 million people a day, a figure that puts almost every other crowded city to shame. Mumbai’s population has grown sharply over the past 20 years – it has actually doubled since 1991 – due to migrants from rural areas moving to cities in search of work.
The consequences of this flow are rather bleak: according to the World Population Review report, 41% of the inhabitants of Mumbai and its surroundings live in slums.
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8. Beijing, China
Current population: 22,189,082
China’s second-largest municipality has almost as many people as Australia. And not only has its population been growing at a steady rate since 1975, it’s expected to continue growing through 2035, according to the UN’s World Urbanization Prospects report.
Beijing is suffering the full force of overcrowding in an urban area and the air quality is one of the worst in the world because of coal-fired power plants located near the city and heavy car traffic. PM2.5 (Particulate Matter 2.5) is 52 microns per cubic meter of air, as reported by Reuters – for example, it is 11 in Montreal.
7. Mexico City, Mexico
Current Population: 22,505,315 A
major economic powerhouse, Mexico City is also one of the most populous and densest cities in the world. 20% of Mexico’s population lives in Mexico City, according to the World Population Review.
As you can imagine, the growth of the city has made it difficult for the authorities to provide essential services such as housing to its residents.
6. Cairo, Egypt
Current Population: 22,623,874
The Egyptian capital has been populated since at least the 4thand century because of its strategic location on the Nile. After the plagues of the Middle Ages and the destructive riots of the 1950s, it grew rapidly, according to ThoughtCo.
Even the population of its city center, at 12 million, is astronomical, as World Population Review points out. Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, is only 30% the size of Cairo.
5. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Current Population: 22,806,704
The most populous city in the Americas, with more than 11 million people in the city itself, is a refined and ethnically diverse global cultural center. Curiously, according to Forbes, there are at least 26 billionaires.
It is also a city of immigrants – “8% of students are said to be descendants of immigrants,” writes the World Population Review in a recent survey by the University of Sao Paulo. The metropolitan area continues to grow – it is projected to reach 23 million inhabitants by 2030 – but it has actually lost its rank in recent years.
4. Dhaka, Bangladesh
Current Population: 23,935,652
Business Insider called Dhaka the most densely populated city in the world in 2018, with more than 23,000 inhabitants per square kilometer and the staggering number of 2000 people who come to settle in Bangladesh’s capital every day.
The reason for this influx: outright despair, as natural disasters caused by the climate crisis follow one another and wreak havoc on their home towns and villages. It is therefore not surprising that a quarter of Bangladeshis live below the poverty line, and that around three million people live in Dhaka’s slums.
3. Shanghai, China
Current population: 29,867,918
Shanghai is the largest city in the world and one of the fastest growing cities in the last 20 years, with “double-digit growth almost every year since 1992, with the exception of the global recession of 2008-2009,” according to the World Population Review.
And it continues to grow, even if the pace is slowing. Experts predict that the greater metropolitan area will reach 50 million people by 2050, which is sure to exacerbate all the problems that densely populated cities experience, such as lack of infrastructure and pollution.
2. Delhi, India
Current Population: 33,807,403
Delhi, the Indian capital where the government is headquartered, is the second largest city in terms of population and the first in terms of air pollution. More than 11,000 people live on average on each of its 1484 square kilometers. And it’s growing faster than almost any other city in the world.
In 2001 alone, reports the World Population Review, its population increased by 215,000 people due to natural growth and 285,000 people due to migration. Its population has increased by 2.63% compared to 2022, and the city is expected to surpass 43 million by 2035.
1.Tokyo from Japan
Current Population: 37,115,035
Believe it or not, the most populous metropolitan area on the planet saw its population drop by 0.21% in 2022. This trend is expected to continue and increase until 2035, so that within 16 years, Tokyo will have lost nearly 1.5 million inhabitants. Needless to say, this demographic trend should benefit the rest of the cities on this list!
