Jakarta is now the world’s largest city, with 41.9 million residents, overtaking Tokyo and pushing it into third place, according to a new United Nations report. Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranks second with 36.6 million people and is projected to become the largest city globally by 2050.
The findings come from the UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report, which also highlights a dramatic rise in megacities, urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants, now numbering 33, compared to just eight in 1975.
Tokyo, once the long-standing leader, now has a population of 33.4 million, slipping behind Dhaka, which climbed from ninth place in 2000 to second today. Asia dominates the urban super-league, containing 19 of the 33 megacities and nine of the world’s 10 largest cities. Alongside Jakarta, Dhaka and Tokyo, the top 10 includes New Delhi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Manila, Kolkata and Seoul, with Cairo the only non-Asian city in the group.
Jakarta’s rapid rise comes with mounting risks. The low-lying coastal city is increasingly vulnerable to rising sea levels, with estimates suggesting that up to one-quarter of it could be underwater by 2050. The threat is serious enough that Indonesia has begun building a new capital, Nusantara, on Borneo. Still, the UN projects that Jakarta’s population will grow by another 10 million people by mid-century.
Dhaka’s expansion has largely been fuelled by rural migration, as people flee flooding and climate stress while searching for economic opportunities. “Still growing,” the report notes, with climate change playing a direct role in reshaping population flows.
Other global shifts are also visible: São Paulo remains the largest city in the Americas with 18.9 million people, Lagos has become sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest city, and Tehran, home to nine million, is now grappling with water shortages severe enough to require rationing.
The UN cautioned that the latest rankings also reflect a change in methodology, adopting a new definition of a city as a “contiguous agglomeration” of high-density grid cells with a population of at least 50,000, aiming to standardise how urban areas are measured worldwide.
Beyond demographics, the report points to growing pressure on infrastructure, housing and inequality. In Jakarta, recent protests by low-income workers, including app-based ride-share drivers, have highlighted the social strain accompanying rapid urban growth.
The latest news in your social feeds
Subscribe to our social media platforms to stay tuned