Share
26th November 2025
08:59am GMT
London’s population will increase while Tokyo has lost its status as the most populous city in the world, according to a UN report.
Tokyo, which now ranks third, has held the title as the most populous megacity in the world for decades.
The top spot has now been taken by the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, which is predicted to be kept for 25 more years.
In 2050, the top spot is expected to be taken by Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.
According to the United Nations report, the number of megacities in 2025 has increased to 33, as opposed to just eight in 1975.
A megacity is a city that has a population of 10 million or more people. Most of the world’s megacities are located in the Asian continent.
This report is an update on the 2018 one, and it highlights a relatively new phenomenon on a dramatic increase in city living.
Why Tokyo has lost its spot after a long time is due to the fact that the population has gradually decreased over the past two and a half decades.
Tokyo is home to 33.4 million residents whereas Jakarta now has nearly 42 million people living in it, followed by Dhaka with nearly 37 million.
But Dhaka’s population is expected to soar by reaching over 52 million by 2050, per the newly released UN report.
Furthermore, Tokyo will continue to lose spots in the list, as it is expected to fall down to seventh by 2050, below other megacities like New Delhi and Shanghai.
None of the new megacities will be in Europe by 2050, however, with London, Istanbul and Moscow remaining the only European megacities.
By 2050, the UK capital’s population is expected to increase by nearly 1.5 million, therefore keeping its place as the 33rd largest city in the world secured.
However, Istanbul will retain its top spot as the largest megacity in Europe, with Moscow second and London third.
The UN report also highlighted that the majority of the cities in the world – 96% of them – have fewer than 1 million people and that 81% of the cities have 250,000 or fewer residents.
