The latest data on the World's most populous cities has recently been published by the World Population Review. The organisation have been releasing their list of the population-related data every year since 2013. Based on information collected by prominent organisations like the United Nations, the US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, the Pew Research Center and many more; the organisation has presented its recently updated list ranking a total of 822 cities across the World.
Top 10 most populous cities around the World in 2025
This year's list of 'Largest Cities by Population' is led by Japan's capital, Tokyo. The capital of the 'Land of the Rising Sun' has not seen a significant increase in the number of its population. Rather, its numbers have come down by 0.21%. The drop in the numbers justifies Japan's ongoing problem with having children in recent years. According to the report, Tokyo is the largest city in the world if the entire Tokyo metro area is included, with a total of 37 million residents.
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The 2nd place is held by India's capital, Delhi. With a population of 34.7 million, Delhi has seen an annual increase in the population of 2.54%. Last year, Delhi had a population of 33.8 million.
Chinese city Shanghai is also not too far behind. From last year's 29.8 million population, this year the city has reached a population of 30.5 million. Marking an annual change of 2.06% at the 3rd position
A city that has seen the biggest spike in the annual population change and placed its name in the top 10 list is Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. With a 3% annual change in population, Dhaka currently holds the 4th place with 24.6 million.
With a population of 23.1 million and an annual change of 1.99% Egypt's capital Cairo hits the 5th spot in the list.
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The next 5 spot holders are as follows -
Brazil's city Sao Paulo holds the 6th position, with a population of almost 23 million and an annual change of 0.8%.
Mexico City has landed itself in the 7th position with a 1.1% annual change, reaching a population of 22.8 million.
The capital of China, Beijing has found its place in the 8th spot with a population of 22.6 million and a 1.84% annual change.
The 9th position has been taken by India's financial capital Mumbai wth an annual change of 1.92%. The current population of the city has been documented to be 22.1 million
The last spot on the top 10 list of most populous cities is held by another Japanese city, Osaka. Being another Japanese city to be placed in the top 10 list, Osaka has seen a 0.24% drop in its annual population change. The city's current population is 18.9 million.
Besides these, Istanbul has been named the most populous city in Europe, having 16.2 million residents. While famous cities like Moscow and Paris have respectively 12.7 million and 11.3 million residents.
