Jakarta surpasses Tokyo as world’s most populous city

Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city with 42 million residents, jumping from 33rd place in 2018, according to the United Nations‘ World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report released November 18.nytimes
The dramatic shift stems from a revised UN methodology that now includes densely populated informal settlements previously excluded from official counts, identifying approximately 30 million additional residents in Jakarta’s kampung neighborhoods.nytimes
The report projects Dhaka, currently second with 37 million people, will become the world’s largest city by 2050, while Tokyo is expected to experience population decline.nytimes

Jakarta Overtakes Tokyo as World’s Most Populous City

Jakarta has become the world’s most populous city with 42 million residents, surpassing Tokyo for the first time in decades, according to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report released on November 18. The Indonesian capital jumped from 33rd place in the 2018 UN rankings, when it had 11 million residents, while Tokyo fell to third with 33 million. Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, now holds second place with approximately 37 million people.nytimes

The dramatic shift stems largely from a revised UN methodology that now includes densely populated informal settlements previously excluded from official counts. The new approach, called the Degree of Urbanization, defines cities as contiguous one-square-kilometer grid cells with a population density of at least 1,500 inhabitants per square kilometer and a minimum total population of 50,000. For Jakarta, this methodology identified approximately 30 million additional residents in informal neighborhoods known as kampungs.axios

The Megacity Phenomenon

The report found that megacities—urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants—have quadrupled from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025, with 19 located in Asia. Nine of the world’s ten most populous cities are now in Asia, including New Delhi (30.2 million), Shanghai (29.6 million), Guangzhou (27.6 million), Manila (24.7 million), Kolkata (22.5 million), and Seoul (22.5 million). Cairo, Egypt, with 32 million residents, is the only non-Asian city in the top ten.un

The UN projects that Dhaka will become the world’s largest city by 2050, while Tokyo’s population is expected to decline. Cities now house 45 percent of the world’s 8.2 billion people, up from 20 percent in 1950.axios

Environmental Challenges

Jakarta’s rapid growth has intensified infrastructure strain and environmental pressures. Parts of the city are sinking due to excessive groundwater extraction and land subsidence, with projections indicating that as much as a quarter of the city could be submerged by 2050. In response, Indonesia has been constructing a new capital city, Nusantara, in East Kalimantan province on Borneo Island. However, the UN predicts Jakarta’s population will increase by another 10 million by 2050 despite the capital relocation.aljazeera