World City rankings
Largest Metropolitan Areas in the World
Tokyo has the highest Metro Area Population (37M), followed by Delhi (34.7M) and Shanghai (30.5M). Phoenix has the lowest (4.8M).
85 of 1,103 cities
Metro Area Population
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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Ranking
Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 85 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
8.6M
Middle half 6M – 12.7M
Average
10.7M
85 cities
Highest
37M
Tokyo
Lowest
4.8M
Phoenix
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
85 cities · # = rank by Metro Area Population
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tokyo | 37M | $2.09T |
| 2 |  Delhi | 34.7M | $133B |
| 3 |  Shanghai | 30.5M | $757.22B |
| 4 |  Dhaka | 24.7M | — |
| 5 |  Cairo | 23.1M | $190.21B |
| 6 |  Sao Paulo | 23M | $319.3B |
| 7 |  Mexico City | 22.8M | $401.28B |
| 8 | Beijing | 22.6M | $699.88B |
| 9 | Mumbai | 22.1M | $188.31B |
| 10 | Osaka | 18.9M | — |
| 11 | Chongqing | 18.2M | $452.04B |
| 12 |  Karachi | 18.1M | — |
| 13 |  Lagos | 17.2M | $114.5B |
| 14 |  Istanbul | 16.2M | $340.4B |
| 15 |  Buenos Aires | 15.8M | $235.6B |
| 16 |  Manila | 15.2M | $259.53B |
| 17 | Guangzhou | 14.9M | $435.75B |
| 18 | Lahore | 14.8M | — |
| 19 | Tianjin | 14.7M | $253.09B |
| 20 | Rio de Janeiro | 13.9M | $171.8B |
| 21 | Shenzhen | 13.5M | $516.76B |
| 22 |  Moscow | 12.7M | $491.89B |
| 23 |  Los Angeles | 12.7M | $1.62T |
| 24 |  Bogota | 11.8M | $121.8B |
| 25 |  Jakarta | 11.6M | $434.39B |
| 26 |  Lima | 11.5M | $114.4B |
| 27 |  Bangkok | 11.4M | $248.2B |
| 28 |  Paris | 11.3M | $1.02T |
| 29 | Hyderabad | 11.3M | — |
| 30 | Nanjing | 10.2M | — |
| 31 |  Luanda | 10M | — |
| 32 |  Seoul | 10M | $1.01T |
| 33 | Chengdu | 10M | $330.14B |
| 34 |  Ho Chi Minh City | 9.8M | $133.08B |
| 35 |  Tehran | 9.7M | — |
| 36 | Nagoya | 9.5M | $523B |
| 37 | Chicago | 9M | $919.23B |
| 38 |  Kuala Lumpur | 9M | $165.65B |
| 39 | Wuhan | 9M | $296.37B |
| 40 | Suzhou | 8.6M | $375.29B |
| 41 | Hangzhou | 8.6M | $306.95B |
| 42 | Surat | 8.6M | — |
| 43 |  Dar es Salaam | 8.6M | — |
| 44 |  Baghdad | 8.1M | $106.18B |
| 45 | Shenyang | 8M | $126.76B |
| 46 |  Riyadh | 8M | $246.84B |
| 47 | Foshan | 7.8M | $187.62B |
| 48 | Dongguan | 7.8M | $172.46B |
| 49 |  Santiago | 7M | $128.8B |
| 50 | Houston | 6.9M | $697B |
| 51 |  Madrid | 6.8M | $317.22B |
| 52 |  Khartoum | 6.8M | — |
| 53 | Dallas | 6.7M | $744.65B |
| 54 |  Toronto | 6.5M | $412B |
| 55 |  Johannesburg | 6.4M | $126.28B |
| 56 | Miami | 6.4M | $533.67B |
| 57 | Belo Horizonte | 6.4M | — |
| 58 | Dalian | 6.3M | $133.63B |
| 59 | Atlanta | 6.3M | $570.66B |
| 60 | Qingdao | 6.2M | $234.77B |
| 61 |  Singapore | 6.2M | $547.39B |
| 62 | Zhengzhou | 6.2M | $204.05B |
| 63 |  Abidjan | 6.1M | — |
| 64 |  Addis Ababa | 6M | — |
| 65 | Philadelphia | 5.9M | $557.6B |
| 66 |  Yangon | 5.8M | — |
| 67 | Alexandria | 5.8M | — |
| 68 |  Nairobi | 5.8M | — |
| 69 | Barcelona | 5.7M | $205.51B |
| 70 | Chittagong | 5.7M | — |
| 71 | Saint Petersburg | 5.6M | $151.61B |
| 72 | Guadalajara | 5.6M | — |
| 73 | Ankara | 5.6M | $108.3B |
| 74 | Fukuoka | 5.5M | $173B |
| 75 |  Melbourne | 5.4M | $276.16B |
| 76 | Monterrey | 5.3M | $148.85B |
| 77 | Sydney | 5.2M | $344.93B |
| 78 | Changsha | 5.1M | $214.4B |
| 79 | Cape Town | 5.1M | — |
| 80 | Brasilia | 5M | — |
| 81 | Kunming | 5M | $116.2B |
| 82 | Changchun | 4.9M | $107.17B |
| 83 |  Kabul | 4.9M | — |
| 84 |  Yaounde | 4.9M | — |
| 85 | Phoenix | 4.8M | $398.13B |
What correlates with Metro Area Population?
Pearson r against 15 other city metrics sharing at least 51 cities. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Metro Area Population tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Metro Area Population tend to score lower on these
Quick answers
- Which world city has the highest Metro Area Population?
- Tokyo has the highest Metro Area Population, at 37M, followed by Delhi (34.7M) and Shanghai (30.5M).
- Which world city has the lowest Metro Area Population?
- Phoenix has the lowest Metro Area Population, at 4.8M.
- What is the median Metro Area Population across world cities?
- The median is 8.6M across the 85 world cities with data.
- Where does this largest metropolitan areas in the world data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Largest World Cities by Population - Macrotrends; List of metropolitan areas by GDP - Wiki. Last updated 2026-10-28.