Jakarta Surpasses Tokyo as World’s Largest City

In just seven years, Jakarta, Indonesia, has made a significant leap from being the 33rd largest city in the world to surpassing Tokyo as the largest. The city now boasts a population of 42 million residents. Nearly half of the global population resides in cities, with the number of megacities like Jakarta, each with over 10 million inhabitants, increasing from less than 10 to over 30 in the last 50 years according to a United Nations report. The UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report provides estimates for over 8.2 billion people across 237 countries and areas, residing in more than 12,000 cities. The report highlights urbanization as a significant demographic shift in human history, transforming how people live and form communities. The methodology used in the report enhances its utility by providing harmonized estimates and projections across cities, towns, and rural areas.