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Countries Ranked by Urban population in 2020

Urban population for each country in 2020, ranked from highest to lowest. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

In 2020, China ranks #1 with 896.38 million people. That is 1.9 times India in second place (478.69 million people). The top five are China, India, United States, Brazil and Indonesia. Together the top 10 account for 57% of the total across the 217 countries listed. The median across all 217 is 3.85 million people; Liechtenstein is last at 5,705 people.

#1
China · 896.38 million people
Median
3.85 million people
Coverage
217 countries
Data year
2020
Last updated
2026-11-14
Top 10: Urban populationBar chart of the top 10: 1. China 896.38 million; 2. India 478.69 million; 3. United States 265.25 million; 4. Brazil 181.35 million; 5. Indonesia 154.66 million; 6. Nigeria 127.9 million; 7. Japan 115.88 million; 8. Russian Federation 108.49 million; 9. Mexico 99.76 million; 10. Pakistan 88.15 million.China896.38 millionIndia478.69 millionUnited States265.25 millionBrazil181.35 millionIndonesia154.66 millionNigeria127.9 millionJapan115.88 millionRussian Federation108.49 millionMexico99.76 millionPakistan88.15 million
Top 10: Urban population (people). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. China 896.38 million; 2. India 478.69 million; 3. United States 265.25 million; 4. Brazil 181.35 million; 5. Indonesia 154.66 million; 6. Nigeria 127.9 million; 7. Japan 115.88 million; 8. Russian Federation 108.49 million; 9. Mexico 99.76 million; 10. Pakistan 88.15 million.
Urban population over time, top 5China: 371.11 million in 1996 to 896.38 million in 2020; India: 262.21 million in 1996 to 478.69 million in 2020; United States: 209.19 million in 1996 to 265.25 million in 2020; Brazil: 128.57 million in 1996 to 181.35 million in 2020; Indonesia: 76.28 million in 1996 to 154.66 million in 2020.0224.1 million448.19 million672.29 million896.38 million199620082020ChinaIndiaUnited StatesBrazilIndonesia
Urban population over time, top 5 (people). China: 371.11 million in 1996 to 896.38 million in 2020; India: 262.21 million in 1996 to 478.69 million in 2020; United States: 209.19 million in 1996 to 265.25 million in 2020; Brazil: 128.57 million in 1996 to 181.35 million in 2020; Indonesia: 76.28 million in 1996 to 154.66 million in 2020.
Share of the total: Urban populationChina 20.3%; India 10.8%; United States 6.0%; Brazil 4.1%; Indonesia 3.5%; All others 55.2%20%11%55%

China 20.3%India 10.8%United States 6.0%Brazil 4.1%Indonesia 3.5%All others 55.2%

Share of the total: Urban population, as a share of 217 countries. China 20.3%; India 10.8%; United States 6.0%; Brazil 4.1%; Indonesia 3.5%; All others 55.2%.

Full ranking

Countries Ranked by Urban population in 2020, 2020
RankCountryUrban population (people)
1China896,380,000
2India478,690,000
3United States265,250,000
4Brazil181,350,000
5Indonesia154,660,000
6Nigeria127,900,000
7Japan115,880,000
8Russian Federation108,490,000
9Mexico99,763,000
10Pakistan88,145,000
11Türkiye74,154,000
12Germany67,751,000
13Iran, Islamic Rep.66,318,000
14Philippines60,645,000
15United Kingdom55,327,000
16France53,210,000
17Bangladesh51,747,000
18Egypt, Arab Rep.46,479,000
19Korea, Rep.42,079,000
20Argentina41,551,000
21Congo, Dem. Rep.41,518,000
22Italy41,321,000
23Thailand41,005,000
24Colombia39,308,000
25South Africa38,419,000
26Spain37,743,000
27Viet Nam34,887,000
28Algeria32,175,000
29Canada31,165,000
30Ukraine31,001,000
31Iraq29,426,000
32Peru27,429,000
33Saudi Arabia26,443,000
34Ethiopia25,717,000
35Malaysia25,435,000
36Venezuela, RB25,355,000
37Morocco22,716,000
38Angola22,565,000
39Poland22,462,000
40Australia22,384,000
41Tanzania20,642,000
42Nepal19,148,000
43Ghana17,926,000
44Chile17,103,000
45Uzbekistan17,051,000
46Netherlands16,439,000
47Korea, Dem. People's Rep.16,371,000
48Kenya16,295,000
49Sudan16,170,000
50Myanmar15,989,000
51Syrian Arab Republic15,453,000
52Côte d'Ivoire14,989,000
53Cameroon14,221,000
54Yemen, Rep.12,901,000
55Uganda12,688,000
56Kazakhstan11,687,000
57Ecuador11,068,000
58Mozambique10,437,000
59Romania10,136,000
60Belgium10,073,000
61Jordan9,976,600
62Afghanistan9,869,700
63Guatemala9,468,100
64Sweden9,105,100
65Madagascar8,889,300
66Somalia, Fed. Rep.8,706,300
67Cuba8,617,900
68Senegal8,572,000
69Israel8,439,100
70Greece8,377,700
71Zambia8,360,300
72Bolivia8,276,600
73Tunisia8,274,600
74Dominican Republic8,065,200
75United Arab Emirates8,009,300
76Czechia7,780,100
77Hong Kong SAR, China7,481,000
78Belarus7,296,600
79Switzerland7,112,800
80Hungary6,797,500
81Cambodia6,662,200
82Benin6,462,700
83Mali6,301,500
84Portugal6,292,000
85Libya6,187,800
86Austria6,111,700
87Haiti5,917,700
88Azerbaijan5,883,600
89Honduras5,755,000
90Zimbabwe5,746,500
91Singapore5,685,800
92Burkina Faso5,661,300
93Denmark5,145,600
94Lebanon5,116,700
95Guinea4,877,800
96Bulgaria4,803,200
97El Salvador4,554,900
98Norway4,449,000
99Kuwait4,400,300
100Paraguay4,366,200

Showing the top 100 of 217. Premium downloads the full list as CSV or JSON.

About the top 10

#3 United States

United States ranks #3 on this list with 265.25 million people.

Capital
Washington, D.C.
Continent
North America
Income group
High income
Population
341.78 million people (2025)
GDP
US$30.77 trillion (2025)
GDP per person
US$90,027 (2025)
Life expectancy
78.9 years (2024)
Urban population
80.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: New York metropolitan area, New York City, Chicago.

Also ranks #1 in gdp (current us$) · #1 in health expenditure per capita · #1 in imports of goods and services.

Full country profile Weather in New York (Purr Weather)

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Related rankings

Source and method

Urban population for each country in 2020, ranked from highest to lowest.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SP.URB.TOTL. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Urban population: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), note: World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospe.

Values are shown as published. Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.