{"id":655014,"date":"2026-08-20T08:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=655014"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:15:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:15:00","slug":"by-2050-the-worlds-most-populous-cities-will-all-be-in-africa-or-asia-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=655014","title":{"rendered":"By 2050, The World’s Most-Populous Cities Will All Be In Africa Or Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By 2050, The World’s Most-Populous Cities Will All Be In Africa Or Asia<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Across 150 years, familiar urban giants rise, fall, and give way to a new generation of megacities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen,<\/a> ranks the 15 most populous cities worldwide from 1950 to 2100 using population estimates from the European Commission\u2019s JRC via\u00a0Our World in Data<\/a>. City boundaries were consistently defined based on satellite imagery and population data.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Transatlantic Era<\/h2>\n

Tokyo led the 1950 ranking with 12.6 million people, followed by New York with 9.3 million.<\/p>\n

The Big Apple was not the only massive Western city at the time. Of the 15 most populous cities in 1950, over half were found in either Europe or the Americas. This included London (7.9 million), Moscow (5.5 million), and Paris (5.4 million).<\/p>\n

The table below ranks the 15 most populous cities in 1950:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rank<\/th>\nCity<\/th>\nPopulation in 1950
\n(Millions)<\/th>\n		Region<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Tokyo<\/td>\n12.6<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 New York City<\/td>\n9.3<\/td>\nNorth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Osaka<\/td>\n8.0<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 London<\/td>\n7.9<\/td>\nEurope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Kolkata<\/td>\n6.1<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa Moscow<\/td>\n5.5<\/td>\nEurope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Paris<\/td>\n5.4<\/td>\nEurope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 Buenos Aires<\/td>\n4.6<\/td>\nSouth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Los Angeles<\/td>\n4.0<\/td>\nNorth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde9 Jakarta<\/td>\n3.9<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Mumbai<\/td>\n3.8<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Mexico City<\/td>\n3.7<\/td>\nNorth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddec Cairo<\/td>\n3.1<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 Shanghai<\/td>\n3.1<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7 S\u00e3o Paulo<\/td>\n3.1<\/td>\nSouth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The rankings began changing quickly over the following decades. By 1975, London had fallen out of the top 15, while Paris (7.4 million) and Los Angeles (7.7 million) had also slipped in rank.<\/p>\n

The second half of the 20th century also saw the rise of Latin American metropolises such as S\u00e3o Paulo and Mexico City, which by 2000 had surpassed New York as the\u00a0most populous cities<\/a>\u00a0in the hemisphere.<\/p>\n

The Rise of Asia<\/h2>\n

By 2000, Asia dominated the upper reaches of the ranking.<\/p>\n

Tokyo maintained its lead at 30.3 million inhabitants, while Guangzhou had climbed to third with 19 million and New Delhi to sixth with 18 million.<\/p>\n

Urbanization and a continental\u00a0population boom<\/a>\u00a0continued, and by 2025 all but one of the 10 most populous cities worldwide were in Asia. The sole exception was Cairo, with 25.6 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rank<\/th>\nCity<\/th>\nPopulation in 2025
\n(Millions)<\/th>\n		Region<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde9 Jakarta<\/td>\n41.9<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\udde9 Dhaka<\/td>\n36.6<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Tokyo<\/td>\n33.4<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 New Delhi<\/td>\n30.2<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 Shanghai<\/td>\n29.6<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 Guangzhou<\/td>\n27.6<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddec Cairo<\/td>\n25.6<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded Manila<\/td>\n24.7<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Kolkata<\/td>\n22.5<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf7 Seoul<\/td>\n22.5<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 Karachi<\/td>\n21.4<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Mumbai<\/td>\n20.2<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7 S\u00e3o Paulo<\/td>\n18.9<\/td>\nSouth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\udded Bangkok<\/td>\n18.2<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Mexico City<\/td>\n17.7<\/td>\nNorth America<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The World in 2100<\/h2>\n

By 2100, Dhaka is projected to rank first with 55 million people, followed by Jakarta at 49.7 million and Karachi at 43.7 million. Tokyo, the world\u2019s largest city in 1950 and 2000, is projected to fall to ninth place with 24.1 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rank<\/th>\nCity<\/th>\nPopulation in 2100P
\n(Millions)<\/th>\n		Region<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\udde9 Dhaka<\/td>\n55.0<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde9 Jakarta<\/td>\n49.7<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 Karachi<\/td>\n43.7<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddec Cairo<\/td>\n36.7<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 New Delhi<\/td>\n32.0<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf4 Luanda<\/td>\n30.7<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 Lahore<\/td>\n24.8<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 Shanghai<\/td>\n24.7<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Tokyo<\/td>\n24.1<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded Manila<\/td>\n22.4<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Mumbai<\/td>\n21.5<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Kolkata<\/td>\n20.5<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddff Dar es Salaam<\/td>\n20.1<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 Guangzhou<\/td>\n18.1<\/td>\nAsia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec Lagos<\/td>\n17.9<\/td>\nAfrica<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Cairo will remain the most populous city outside of Asia, with 36.7 million people. It will be joined in the upper rankings by other African megacities including Luanda (30.7 million), Dar es Salaam (20.1 million), and Lagos (17.9 million).<\/p>\n

Tokyo is projected to see its population fall below its 1975 level as declining birth rates contribute to long-term\u00a0population decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about national population growth, check out\u00a0The Top 10 Countries Driving Future Population Growth<\/a>\u00a0on Voronoi.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 08\/20\/2026 – 04:15<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By 2050, The World’s Most-Populous Cities Will All Be In Africa Or Asia Across 150 years, familiar urban giants rise, fall, and give way to a new generation of megacities. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, ranks the 15 most populous cities worldwide from 1950 to 2100 using population estimates from the European Commission\u2019s… Continue reading By 2050, The World’s Most-Populous Cities Will All Be In Africa Or Asia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":655008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=655014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/655008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=655014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=655014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=655014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}