Jakarta is now world’s most populous city, Asia has 9 of top 10

Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world’s most populous city, according to a new United Nations-backed study capturing global urban trends in 2025. The Indonesian capital and its surrounding metropolitan region now house an estimated 42 million people, surpassing Dhaka’s 37 million and pushing Tokyo down to third place with 33 million residents.

The shift reflects not just population growth, but a dramatic repositioning of urban power: nine of the world’s ten most populated urban agglomerations  Jakarta, Dhaka, Tokyo, New Delhi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Cairo, Manila, Kolkata and Seoul are now in Asia, cementing the continent’s dominance in global urbanisation.

Urban experts say the surge in these megacities is driven by continuing rural-to-urban migration, economic opportunity, and demographic momentum. In particular, South and Southeast Asian capitals, already under strain from infrastructure pressure and resource constraints, are rapidly scaling up. In this context, New Delhi and Kolkata, two of India’s major population centres also find themselves among the world’s top ten, underscoring the scale of urban challenge across South Asia.

For Jakarta now officially the world’s largest city by population, the recognition brings into sharp relief chronic challenges. The city already grapples with flooding, water-management stress and land subsidence.

Overcrowding further strains housing, transport, sanitation and social services. These vulnerabilities were among the reasons Indonesia in recent years commenced shifting its administrative capital functions to Nusantara on Borneo, aiming to ease pressure on Jakarta.

Analysts warn that the UN ranking highlights growing disparities across megacities: while population numbers soar, infrastructure and climate resilience often lag behind. Cities like Dhaka, New Delhi, Manila or Kolkata may face escalating risks from water scarcity and extreme heat to public-health challenges and pollution, if planning, investment and governance do not keep pace.

With nearly all of the world’s largest cities now concentrated in Asia, the urgency has never been greater. Governments across the region must adopt sustainable urban policies, invest in resilient infrastructure, strengthen public services, and manage expansion carefully. If not, swelling populations could overwhelm capacity, turning megacities into mega crisis zones rather than engines of growth.

With inputs from agencies