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Ranked: The World’s Largest
Megacities
Jakarta just became the world’s largest city with nearly 42 million people. Tokyo held that title for decades — and is now shrinking. The world has 33 megacities in 2025, up from just 2 in 1950. By 2050, Dhaka is projected to hit 52 million and become the biggest city on earth. Here is the complete ranking.
Urban agglomeration population (metro area). Bars scaled to Jakarta’s ~42M. Source: UN DESA World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (primary, released November 18, 2025) · UNRIC · BusinessTats.
In 1950, almost no one lived in a megacity. By 2050, hundreds of millions will. The pace of this shift is accelerating. Source: UN DESA World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (primary).
In 1950, only 20% of the world’s population lived in cities. Today it’s 45%. By 2050, it will be closer to 70%. We are living through the largest migration in human history — from countryside to city. And it’s accelerating. Most of what’s left to happen will happen in Africa and South Asia.
“We built the world’s megacities in 75 years. The next wave will happen faster — and almost all of it will be in Africa and South Asia.”
Jakarta Just Became #1 — and Most People Missed It
Jakarta, Indonesia now has nearly 42 million people. The UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025 — released November 18, 2025 — placed it above Tokyo for the first time. The difference is methodology. The new UN approach uses satellites to measure actual continuous urban settlement. The result changes the ranking. Tokyo held the top spot since the 1960s. It now ranks third and is shrinking.
Delhi Is Adding a New City Every Single Year
New Delhi adds approximately 700,000 people every year. That is roughly a small city arriving annually inside an existing megacity. At this rate, Delhi will surpass Tokyo to become the world’s largest traditionally-defined city around 2028 to 2030. Dhaka, Bangladesh is growing even faster in proportional terms — 300,000 to 500,000 rural migrants arrive every year. By 2050, Dhaka is projected to reach 52 million and become the world’s most populous city.
3,000 Cities Are Shrinking — and Nobody Talks About It
While the megacity story is one of growth, approximately 3,000 cities saw their populations decline between 2015 and 2025 (UN WUP 2025). One-third of those shrinking cities are in China. One-fifth are in India. Tokyo is declining as Japan’s aging crisis spreads. Many European cities have levelled off. Paris and Madrid are projected to stay roughly the same size to 2050. Growth and shrinkage are happening simultaneously — in the same countries, sometimes in the same regions.
