The share of the population living in cities reached 45 percent of the global population in 2025, Cheryl Sawyer, representative of the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said during the event titled “Future Urbanization: How Will Your Cities Change in the Coming Decades?” held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), APA reports.
Presenting the UN report “World Urbanization Prospects 2025” at the event, Sawyer noted that between 1950 and 2025, the share of the population living in cities increased from 20 percent to 45 percent of the global population.
The presentation noted that during this period, the world population grew from 2.5 billion to 8.2 billion people. At the same time, the share of the rural population declined from 40 percent to 20 percent.
The report emphasized that by 2050, two-thirds of the expected population growth will occur in cities, while most of the remaining growth will be recorded in towns. The rural population is projected to begin declining after reaching its peak in the 2040s.
According to the new “Degree of Urbanization” methodology, Jakarta was identified as the world’s largest city in 2025. In previous reports, this position was usually held by Tokyo.
The report noted that the number of megacities increased from 8 cities in 1975 to 33 in 2025 and is expected to reach 37 by 2050. The five largest cities were identified as Jakarta, Lagos, Tokyo, Cairo, and Delhi. At the same time, the report showed that the vast majority of cities worldwide are small and medium-sized.
Of the 12,000 cities identified under the new methodology, 96 percent have populations of less than 1 million, while 81 percent have populations below 250,000. It was stated that most population growth is occurring through the expansion of existing cities rather than the creation of new ones.
The presentation noted that nearly half of urban population growth between 2025 and 2050 will come from seven countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia.
The report also analyzed settlement structures by country. It stated that in 104 countries, the majority of the population lives in cities; in 71 countries, towns are dominant; while in 62 countries, rural settlements prevail.
According to the UN report, currently 45 percent of the world’s population lives in cities, 36 percent in towns, and 19 percent in rural areas.
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