World City rankings
Fastest Growing Cities in the World
Tokyo has the highest City Population 2000 (30.3M), followed by Guangzhou (27.8M) and Jakarta (25M). Luanda has the lowest (902.2K).
93 of 1,103 cities
City Population 2000
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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Ranking
Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 93 cities.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one city; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
4.4M
Middle half 3.3M – 7.8M
Average
6.9M
93 cities
Highest
30.3M
Tokyo
Lowest
902.2K
Luanda
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
93 cities · # = rank by City Population 2000
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tokyo | 30.3M | 32.7M | 7.88% |
| 2 |  Guangzhou | 27.8M | 44.3M | 59.7% |
| 3 |  Jakarta | 25M | 42.9M | 71.8% |
| 4 |  Seoul | 19M | 22.2M | 17.1% |
| 5 |  Kolkata | 18.8M | 25.2M | 34.2% |
| 6 |  Mexico City | 17.6M | 18.1M | 2.68% |
| 7 |  Manila | 17.5M | 27.5M | 57.4% |
| 8 |  Sao Paulo | 17M | 19.5M | 15.1% |
| 9 |  Dhaka | 16.1M | 41.8M | 159.8% |
| 10 | Mumbai | 16M | 22.4M | 40.4% |
| 11 |  Cairo | 15.3M | 26.7M | 74.6% |
| 12 | Osaka | 14.5M | 12M | -16.8% |
| 13 | Shanghai | 14M | 32.7M | 133.8% |
| 14 |  Los Angeles | 11.8M | 13.9M | 18.0% |
| 15 |  Buenos Aires | 11.7M | 14.6M | 24.9% |
| 16 |  Moscow | 11.2M | 14.5M | 29.1% |
| 17 |  Karachi | 10.8M | 23.9M | 122.4% |
| 18 |  Istanbul | 10.4M | 13.8M | 32.8% |
| 19 | Beijing | 9.8M | 18.4M | 88.2% |
| 20 | Rio de Janeiro | 8.5M | 10.1M | 18.7% |
| 21 |  Bangkok | 8.4M | 20.6M | 145.7% |
| 22 |  Paris | 8.3M | 9.5M | 14.5% |
| 23 | Lahore | 7.9M | 14.9M | 90.3% |
| 24 |  Taipei | 7.8M | 10.1M | 28.6% |
| 25 |  Lagos | 7.7M | 14.1M | 82.9% |
| 26 |  London | 7.6M | 10.7M | 40.3% |
| 27 | Chennai | 7.6M | 12.1M | 58.5% |
| 28 | Nagoya | 7.3M | 7.5M | 2.55% |
| 29 | Shantou | 7.1M | 11M | 53.6% |
| 30 |  Lima | 7M | 11.5M | 63.7% |
| 31 |  Tehran | 6.9M | 9.8M | 42.6% |
| 32 | Hyderabad | 6.4M | 9.9M | 55.2% |
| 33 |  Bogota | 6.4M | 10.6M | 66.5% |
| 34 | Bandung | 6.3M | 9M | 43.2% |
| 35 | Bengaluru | 6.3M | 16.8M | 168.6% |
| 36 |  Ho Chi Minh City | 6.2M | 16.3M | 163.3% |
| 37 | Surabaya | 5.7M | 7M | 23.6% |
| 38 | Wuhan | 5.7M | 8.6M | 51.5% |
| 39 | Chengdu | 5.5M | 4.9M | -10.7% |
| 40 | Chongqing | 5.4M | 9.1M | 67.9% |
| 41 | Chicago | 5.3M | 5.5M | 2.91% |
| 42 |  Santiago | 5.2M | 6.7M | 28.7% |
| 43 | Ahmedabad | 5.1M | 8.4M | 64.1% |
| 44 |  Kinshasa | 5.1M | 16.5M | 222.4% |
| 45 | Hangzhou | 4.9M | 5.6M | 12.8% |
| 46 | Shenyang | 4.6M | 6.2M | 34.6% |
| 47 |  Johannesburg | 4.4M | 9.3M | 112.8% |
| 48 | Pune | 4.4M | 6.8M | 57.2% |
| 49 | Tianjin | 4.3M | 7.3M | 68.4% |
| 50 | San Francisco | 4.3M | 4.9M | 12.9% |
| 51 |  Baghdad | 4.3M | 7.8M | 80.0% |
| 52 | Miami | 4.2M | 6M | 41.2% |
| 53 | Nanjing | 4.2M | 8.1M | 93.7% |
| 54 |  Kuala Lumpur | 4.1M | 8.9M | 115.0% |
| 55 | Alexandria | 4.1M | 7.6M | 85.7% |
| 56 | Saint Petersburg | 4M | 4.9M | 23.6% |
| 57 |  Toronto | 4M | 5.8M | 45.4% |
| 58 |  Madrid | 3.9M | 5.7M | 47.2% |
| 59 |  Khartoum | 3.9M | 8.4M | 115.8% |
| 60 | Kanpur | 3.8M | 4.8M | 25.2% |
| 61 |  Yangon | 3.8M | 6.8M | 81.2% |
| 62 |  Colombo | 3.7M | 4.8M | 30.5% |
| 63 |  Singapore | 3.6M | 5.2M | 46.5% |
| 64 | Belo Horizonte | 3.5M | 4.5M | 28.6% |
| 65 |  Riyadh | 3.5M | 8.6M | 145.3% |
| 66 | Harbin | 3.5M | 4.6M | 32.6% |
| 67 | Mashhad | 3.4M | 5.5M | 61.2% |
| 68 | Medan | 3.4M | 4.6M | 35.7% |
| 69 | Wenzhou | 3.4M | 3.6M | 6.04% |
| 70 | Surat | 3.3M | 7.3M | 120.6% |
| 71 |  Abidjan | 3.3M | 7.5M | 129.9% |
| 72 | Lucknow | 3.2M | 5.7M | 77.2% |
| 73 |  Casablanca | 3.2M | 5M | 56.1% |
| 74 | Hefei | 3.2M | 6M | 88.9% |
| 75 | Hanoi | 3.1M | 4.7M | 51.1% |
| 76 | Kochi | 2.8M | 5.5M | 95.3% |
| 77 | Faisalabad | 2.8M | 6.5M | 130.3% |
| 78 | Zhengzhou | 2.8M | 5M | 80.2% |
| 79 |  Accra | 2.7M | 6.6M | 143.7% |
| 80 |  Santo Domingo | 2.7M | 4.9M | 81.1% |
| 81 |  Addis Ababa | 2.7M | 9.1M | 237.1% |
| 82 | Kano | 2.6M | 6.1M | 129.1% |
| 83 |  Kabul | 2.6M | 7.6M | 189.5% |
| 84 |  Nairobi | 2.6M | 7.9M | 204.9% |
| 85 | Islamabad | 2.6M | 5.6M | 117.0% |
| 86 |  Amman | 2.5M | 6.6M | 166.9% |
| 87 | Jeddah | 2.4M | 5.2M | 120.1% |
| 88 | Kozhikode | 2.3M | 8.6M | 271.1% |
| 89 |  Dar es Salaam | 2.1M | 11.2M | 439.8% |
| 90 |  Kampala | 1.7M | 6.3M | 267.9% |
| 91 |  Yaounde | 1.6M | 6.5M | 308.2% |
| 92 |  Dubai | 1.3M | 4.8M | 258.2% |
| 93 |  Luanda | 902.2K | 14.1M | 1,467.2% |
What correlates with City Population 2000?
Pearson r against 13 other city metrics sharing at least 56 cities. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher City Population 2000 tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher City Population 2000 tend to score lower on these
- Population Growth RatePlotr = −0.23 · weak · n = 93
Quick answers
- Which world city has the highest City Population 2000?
- Tokyo has the highest City Population 2000, at 30.3M, followed by Guangzhou (27.8M) and Jakarta (25M).
- Which world city has the lowest City Population 2000?
- Luanda has the lowest City Population 2000, at 902.2K.
- What is the median City Population 2000 across world cities?
- The median is 4.4M across the 93 world cities with data.
- Where does this fastest growing cities in the world data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: The world’s fastest growing cities and urban areas from 2006 to 2020 - City Mayors; World Urbanization Prospects Dataset - Urban Agglomerations With 300,000 Or More Inhabitants - Our World in Data. Last updated 2026-10-28.