These will be the world's 10 biggest cities in 2050

Research estimates Lagos, Nigeria will be world's most populous place by 2100

Rebecca Harrington
Sunday 14 January 2018 10:16 EST
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Mumbai is predicted to have a population of over 42m by the middle of the century
Mumbai is predicted to have a population of over 42m by the middle of the century (Shutterstock/monotoomono)

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The human population is growing at an alarming rate. By 2050, there will be almost 10bn people on the planet.

We've been hearing this for years, but where is the most growth happening?

Today, Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, with about 38m residents. None of the 10 most populous cities in the world are in Africa and only two (Sao Paulo and Mexico City) are in Latin America.

But in the next three decades, that's going to change.

Based on population growth models, the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto projects these will be the 10 biggest cities in 2050.

  1. Mexico City, Mexico: 24.3m people
  2. New York, United States: 24.8m people
  3. Karachi, Pakistan: 31.7m people
  4. Tokyo, Japan: 32.6m people
  5. Lagos, Nigeria: 32.6m people
  6. Kolkata, India: 33m people
  7. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: 35m people
  8. Dhaka, Bangladesh: 35.2m people
  9. Delhi, India: 36.2m people
  10. Mumbai, India: 42.4m people

Mumbai won't be number one for long.

The Global Cities Institute projects that Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will be the most populous city in the world by 2075 and that by 2100, it will be surpassed by the 88m future residents of Lagos, Nigeria.

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