20 of the largest cities in the world by population, ranked
Talia Lakritz
- Demographia measured the world's largest cities by population according to urban area.
- Urban areas are linked by commuting flows and social and economic interactions.
There are several ways to measure the population of the world's largest cities.
Demographia, an urban public policy and demographic analysis site, ranked the largest cities in the world by measuring the populations in urban areas as opposed to official city limits or metropolitan statistical areas.
As defined by Alex Blei, a program scholar at New York University's Stern Marron Institute Urban Expansion Project cited in Demographia's report, urban areas are contiguous, built-up areas that "function as an integrated economic unit, linked together by commuting flows, social and economic interactions."
Here are the top 20 largest cities in the world, with populations measured by urban area in 2022.
20. Lagos, Nigeria
Population: 16,637,000
19. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Population: 16,710,000
18. Moscow, Russia
Population: 17,332,000
17. Shenzhen, China
Population: 17,619,000
16. Bangkok, Thailand
Population: 18,007,000
15. Kolkata, India
Population: 18,502,000
14. Beijing, China
Population: 18,522,000
13. Dhaka, Bangladesh
Population: 18,627,000
12. Cairo, Egypt
Population: 20,296,000
11. New York, USA
Population: 21,509,000
10. Mexico City, Mexico
Population: 21,804,000
9. Seoul, South Korea
Population: 23,016,000
8. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Population: 23,086,000
7. Shanghai, China
Population: 24,073,000
6. Manila, Philippines
Population: 24,922,000
5. Mumbai, India
Population: 24,973,000
4. Guangzhou, China
Population: 26,940,000
3. Delhi, India
Population: 32,226,000
2. Jakarta, Indonesia
Population: 33,756,000
1. Tokyo, Japan
Population: 37,732,000
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