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Top 10 largest cities in the world by population in 2025: #1 is in Japan, not India or China

Top 10 largest cities in the world by population in 2025 list | Largest city in the world by population: Most of the world’s largest cities by population are in India and China, with Delhi ranking #2 and Shanghai #3—but Tokyo, not an Indian or Chinese city, tops the list in 2025.

Top 10 largest cities in the world by population in 2025: Full rankings below. (Representational Image)

Top 10 largest cities in the world by population in 2025: According to UN projections, the global population is expected to reach 8.2 billion in 2025, climbing to 9.7 billion by 2050 and peaking at 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s.

India, now the world’s most populous country with 1.42 billion people, overtook China in 2023. China follows closely with a population of 1.4 billion in 2025.

With urbanisation accelerating, cities are absorbing more people than ever before—one in four people today live in places where population levels are at or near their peak.

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While India and China dominate the rankings of the largest cities, the world’s most populous city in 2025 is Tokyo, Japan, with 37 million residents. Another Japanese city, Osaka, also makes the top 10 with 18.9 million people.

Trends in population of India and China (File)

Delhi, with 32.9 million residents, ranks #2, followed by Shanghai at #3 with 29.9 million. Other Asian and Latin American megacities continue to grow: Dhaka (24.6 million), São Paulo (23.9 million), Mexico City (22.8 million), and Karachi (18 million).

In contrast, Europe’s urban populations are shrinking. Istanbul, with 16.2 million people, is the continent’s largest city at #15 globally. Moscow ranks #25 with 12.7 million, and Paris sits at #31 with 11.3 million.

Top 10 largest cities in the world by population in 2025:

Rank	City	Country	2025 Population	Growth Rate
1	Tokyo	Japan	37,036,200	-0.21%
2	Delhi	India	34,665,600	2.54%
3	Shanghai	China	30,482,100	2.06%
4	Dhaka	Bangladesh	24,652,900	3.00%
5	Cairo	Egypt	23,074,200	1.99%
6	Sao Paulo	Brazil	22,990,000	0.80%
7	Mexico City	Mexico	22,752,400	1.10%
8	Beijing	China	22,596,500	1.84%
9	Mumbai	India	22,089,000	1.92%
10	Osaka	Japan	18,921,600	-0.24%

Source: World Urbanization Prospects – United Nations population estimates and projections of major Urban Agglomerations (accessed via World Population Review)

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Cherry Gupta

Cherry Gupta is an Assistant Manager – Content at The Indian Express. She leads the Top 10 section, curating list-based features on key national and international developments, and manages daily news content. She also produces SEO-driven articles and collaborates with the Lifestyle team to conduct interviews with notable artists and write workplace culture features. ... Read More