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’s JRC via Our World in Data. City boundaries were consistently defined based on satellite imagery and population data.The Transatlantic EraTokyo led the 1950 ranking with 12.6 million people, followed by New York with 9.3 million.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).The table below ranks the 15 most populous cities in 1950:RankCityPopulation in 1950
(Millions)Region1🇯🇵 Tokyo12.6Asia2🇺🇸 New York City9.3North America3🇯🇵 Osaka8.0Asia4🇬🇧 London7.9Europe5🇮🇳 Kolkata6.1Asia6🇷🇺 Moscow5.5Europe7🇫🇷 Paris5.4Europe8🇦🇷 Buenos Aires4.6South America9🇺🇸 Los Angeles4.0North America10🇮🇩 Jakarta3.9Asia11🇮🇳 Mumbai3.8Asia12🇲🇽 Mexico City3.7North America13🇪🇬 Cairo3.1Africa14🇨🇳 Shanghai3.1Asia15🇧🇷 São Paulo3.1South AmericaThe 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.The second half of the 20th century also saw the rise of Latin American metropolises such as São Paulo and Mexico City, which by 2000 had surpassed New York as the most populous cities in the hemisphere.The Rise of AsiaBy 2000, Asia dominated the upper reaches of the ranking.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.Urbanization and a continental population boom continued, 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.RankCityPopulation in 2025
