list of the world’s largest cities by population

Guangzhou skylineSkyline view of Guangzhou, China; Canton Tower, China's tallest tower at the time it was completed, is visible in the far distance at the center of the photograph.

With more than 72 million inhabitants, Guangzhou, China, is far and away the world’s largest city. But, what defines a city? When you are comparing developments with tens of millions of people located in countries across the globe, a unified definition is tricky—one needs to consider a variety of population groupings, including urban populations, consolidated urban areas, agglomerations, and conglomerations. However, all these groupings have one thing in common: they feature a central city surrounded by contiguous settlements of people. The list below represents the world’s 25 largest such groupings.

rank central city country urban area type urban area population (2025 est.) details
1Urban population: densely populated and continuous urban settlement.
2Agglomeration: large, densely and contiguously populated area consisting of a city and its suburbs.
3Conglomeration: grouping of two or more agglomerations.
4Consolidated urban area: combination of neighboring urban areas or populations.
Source: Thomas Brinkhoff: Major Agglomerations of the World.
1 Guangzhou China urban population1 72,700,000 Includes Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, and Zhongshan.
2 Shanghai China urban population1 41,600,000 Includes Changshu, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Wuxi.
3 Tokyo Japan agglomeration2 41,200,000 Includes Chiba, Kawasaki, Maebashi, Sagamihara, Saitama, Utsunomiya, and Yokohama.
4 Delhi India conglomeration3 35,700,000 Includes Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram.
5 Jakarta Indonesia agglomeration2 29,500,000 Includes Bekasi, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Tangerang Selatan.
6 Manila Philippines agglomeration2 27,800,000 Includes Caloocan and Quezon City
7 Mumbai India conglomeration3 27,600,000 Includes Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Ulhasnagar, and Vasai-Virar.
8 Mexico City Mexico consolidated urban area4 25,400,000 Includes Nezahualcóyotl, Ecatepec, and Naucalpan.
9 Seoul South Korea consolidated urban area4 25,200,000 Includes Bucheon, Goyang, Incheon, Seongnam, and Suwon.
10 Dhaka Bangladesh agglomeration2 23,100,000
11 Cairo Egypt agglomeration2 22,800,000 Includes Giza and Shubrā al-Khaymah.
12 São Paulo Brazil agglomeration2 22,600,000 Includes Guarulhos.
13 Bangkok Thailand agglomeration2 21,800,000
13 New York City U.S. consolidated urban area4 21,800,000 Includes Bridgeport, Newark, and New Haven.
15 Beijing China urban population1 21,500,000
16 Lagos Nigeria 21,300,000 Source notes low reliability.
17 Karachi Pakistan agglomeration2 21,000,000
18 Moscow Russia agglomeration2 18,800,000
19 Chengdu China urban population1 18,100,000
20 Kolkata India conglomeration3 17,900,000 Includes Haora.
21 Ōsaka Japan agglomeration2 17,700,000 Includes Himeji, Kōbe, Kyōto, and Sakai.
22 Los Angeles U.S. consolidated urban area4 17,100,000 Includes Anaheim and Riverside.
23 Buenos Aires Argentina consolidated urban area4 16,800,000 Includes San Justo and La Plata.
23 Tehrān Iran agglomeration2 16,800,000 Includes Karaj.
25 Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo 16,300,000 Source notes low reliability.
Mindy Johnston