This is a controversial category as the boundaries of many cities are difficult to determine. There are seven different lists depending on how the area of a “city” is determined. Is it the formal municipal boundaries or the general area? This list uses the urban area, that is, the continuously built-up landmass of urban development within a labour market. Obviously over time the actual population changes. (in millions). I am surprised that Chongqing, China is not on the list as its urban area has 33 million people making it the second biggest city in the world.
I saw the last of my 2013 list’s 25 largest cities, Dhaka Bangladesh in 2023.
More than half of the world’s population resides in urban areas, with over 4 billion people depending on cities as their main environment. The following list presents the top 20 cities worldwide in 2024, ranked by the population size of their metropolitan areas. Comparing the results to the previous editions, the only cities to reduce their size are the two cities from Japan, Tokyo and Osaka. The highest growth rates can be observed in African mega-cities, Kinshasa and Lagos, while China continues to be the most present country in the list, with 5 metropolises present in the top 20: Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Guangzhou. * Indicates I haven’t seen (Kinshasa).
1. Tokyo, Japan. Population: 37,115,035 (-0.21%)
2. Delhi, India. Population: 33,807,403 (2.63%)
3. Shanghai, China. Population: 29,867,918 (2.25%)
4. Dhaka, Bangladesh. Population: 23,935,652 (3.13%)
5. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Population:22,806,704 (0.83%)
6. Cairo, Egypt. Population: 22,623,874 (1.99%)
7. Mexico City, Mexico. Population: 22,505,315 (1%)
8. Beijing, China. Population: 22,189,082 (1.94%)
9. Mumbai, India. Population: 21,673,149 (1.77%)
10. Osaka, Japan. Population: 18,967,459 (-0.24%)
11. Chongqing, China. Population: 17,773,923 (2.5%)
12. Karachi, Pakistan. Population: 17,648,555 (2.39%)
13. *Kinshasa, DR Congo. Population: 17,032,322 (4.39%)
14. Lagos, Nigeria. Population: 16,536,018 (3.7%)
15. Istanbul, Turkey. Population: 16,047,350 (1.26%)
16. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Population:15,618,288 (0.83%)
17. Kolkata, India. Population:15,570,786 (1.55%)
18. Manila, Philippines. Population:14,941,953 (1.87%)
19. Guangzhou, China. Population: 14,590,096 (2.14%)
20. Tianjin, China. Population: 14,470,873 (1.63%)
My 2013 list
1. Tokyo – 37.126 2014
*2. Jakarta – 26.063 2015
*3. Seoul – 22.547 2014
4. Delhi – 22.242 2013
5. Manila – 21.951 2015
6. Shanghai – 20.861 2015
*7. New York – 20.464 2008
8. Sao Paulo – 20.186 2012
9. Mexico City – 19.463 1981
10. Cairo – 17.816 2021
11. Beijing – 17.311 2014
12. Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto – 17.011 2014
13. Mumbai – 16.910 2013
14. Guangzhou – 16.827 2015
*15. Moscow – 15.152 2014
16. Dhaka (Bangladesh) – 15.414 2021 (the last of the biggest 25)
*17. Los Angeles – 14.900 1991
18. Kolkata (Calcutta) – 14.374 2012
19. Karachi – 17,000 2021
20. Buenos Aires – 13.639 1995
21. Istanbul – 13.576 2018
*22. Rio de Janeiro – 12.043 2012
*23. Shenzhen 11.885 2015
24. Lagos – 11.542 2017
*25. Paris – 10.755 2011