Indonesia UN: Jakarta now the most populous city in the world
According to a new UN report, the Indonesian capital Jakarta is now the most populous metropolis in the world with almost 42 million inhabitants. It is followed by Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, with almost 40 million inhabitants and the Japanese capital Tokyo with 33 million, according to the report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York.
18.11.2025, 18:53
SDA
The number of such "megacities" - urban regions with at least ten million inhabitants - has quadrupled since 1975, from eight to 33, more than half of which (19) are in Asia. Of the ten most populous, the Egyptian capital Cairo is the only one that is not located in Asia.
Four more "megacities" by 2050
The authors of the report expect four more cities to exceed the ten million population mark by 2050: Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Hajipur in India. In some cities, however, the population is also decreasing - for example in Mexico City or Chengdu in China.
Overall, 45 percent of the global population of 8.2 billion people now live in cities, according to the report. In 1950, it was only 20 percent of the world's population at the time. The authors of the report predict that two thirds of population growth will take place in cities by 2050. According to the report, a place counts as a city if at least 50,000 people live there.
Number of cities worldwide has doubled since 1975 - and continues to grow
The number of cities worldwide more than doubled between 1975 and 2025 - to around 12,000. By 2050, there will probably be more than 15,000 cities in the world. The smaller and medium-sized cities are growing even faster than the "megacities" and there are already more people living there overall. Of the approximately 12,000 cities that currently exist, 96 percent have fewer than one million inhabitants.
In 71 countries around the world, the village - a unit with at least 5,000 inhabitants and at least 300 people per square kilometer - remains the most common form of settlement, including Germany, India and the USA. The number of countries in which people live mainly in rural areas has fallen from 116 to 62 since 1975 and is expected to fall further to 44 by 2050. These currently include Austria, Finland, Romania, Mozambique and the Central African Republic.
Urbanization is the "driving force of our time", said the responsible UN Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua. If this is organized inclusively and strategically, it could create opportunities for the fight against climate change, social justice and economic growth.
