Most Populated Urban Areas Worldwide

Here’s a look at the 20 most populated urban areas worldwide. If you don’t see your city on here, go to Geohive, which will give you the 597 most populated areas in the world.  Just about any major population center is on the table. My current place of residence, Phoenix, comes in at 88 on the list. My hometown, St. Louis, is listed at No. 170.

The populations are projected out to 2025, so you can see whether you’re in an area anticipated to grow quickly over the next decade.

The 20 largest metro areas worldwide

Rank Metro Area Country 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2025

1 Tokyo Japan 11,274,641 16,678,821 23,297,503 28,548,512 32,530,003 37,087,718 37,088,417

2 Delhi India 3,530,693 5,558,481 9,725,885 15,730,395 22,156,810 26,272,195 28,567,826

3 Sao Paulo Brazil 7,620,490 12,089,454 14,775,840 17,099,204 20,262,493 21,627,792 21,650,903

4 Mumbai India 5,811,304 8,657,886 12,307,570 16,085,706 20,040,868 23,718,539 25,809,977

5 Mexico City Mexico 8,768,525 13,010,008 15,311,963 18,021,582 19,460,212 20,475,967 20,712,767

6 New York - Newark USA 16,191,180 15,601,401 16,085,599 17,845,873 19,425,069 20,373,557 20,636,047

7 Shanghai China 6,036,492 5,966,171 7,822,912 13,224,272 16,575,110 19,093,523 20,016,885

8 Calcutta India 6,925,675 9,030,285 10,889,658 13,058,060 15,552,080 18,448,945 20,111,977

9 Dhaka Bangla - desh 1,373,718 3,265,663 6,620,697 10,284,947 14,648,354 18,721,299 20,935,801

10 Karachi Pakistan 3,118,723 5,047,815 7,147,064 10,021,188 13,124,793 16,693,354 18,725,211

11 Buenos Aires Argentina 8,104,621 9,422,362 10,513,284 11,846,990 13,074,389 13,606,178 13,708,193

12 Los Angeles USA 8,377,685 9,511,568 10,883,429 11,813,546 12,762,091 13,462,966 13,677,047

13 Beijing China 4,426,045 5,366,115 6,787,737 9,756,966 12,385,263 414,296,062 15,018,304

14 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 6,636,533 8,582,503 9,594,978 10,802,750 11,949,619 12,616,650 12,650,430

15 Manila Philippines 3,534,309 5,954,719 7,972,799 9,958,263 11,628,288 13,687,002 14,916,106

16 Osaka - Kobe Japan 9,408,367 9,990,445 11,035,014 11,165,037 11,337,016 11,368,133 11,368,185

17 Cairo Egypt 5,584,507 7,348,778 9,061,306 10,169,986 11,001,378 12,540,222 13,531,312

18 Lagos Nigeria 1,413,528 2,572,218 4,764,093 7,232,595 10,577,672 14,161,683 15,809,571

19 Moscow Russia 7,106,457 8,136,141 8,986,631 10,004,523 10,549,892 10,661,764 10,662,881

20 Istanbul Turkey 2,772,095 4,397,037 6,552,160 8,743,868 10,524,625 11,688,755 12,108,001