In less than a year, Jakarta has leapfrogged 32 other [[massive]] cities to reach No. 1 on the United Nations’ (UN) list of most [[populous]] cities. Did Indonesia’s capital have a supersized baby boom? Take in millions of [[refugees]]? Nope. The UN changed how it counts for its 2025 World [[Urbanization]] Prospects report.

The UN last calculated city sizes in 2018. At that time, Jakarta ranked 33rd with 11 million people. It was well behind Tokyo’s 37 million. For those figures, the UN [[relied]] on [[demographic]] data reported by individual countries. In Indonesia’s case, it submitted data that left out numbers from “[[densely]] populated communities.” In other words, if there were too many people in a small area to count, they didn’t. That caused the UN’s count to underestimate the size of some cities by a lot.

To fix the problem, the UN switched up how it calculates a city’s population. Now, it uses a general population estimate of an entire [[urban]] area. It also clearly defines what is city, [[suburban]], or [[rural]]. Suburbs are counted as part of a city’s population. That [[drastically]] changed how the UN’s survey viewed Jakarta’s sprawling cityscape. It found that the greater Jakarta area is home to 42 million people. Declining birth rates in Japan are partly to blame for Tokyo falling to third, at 33 million. Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka is second. Its population is 37 million.

Overall, nine of the biggest cities in the world are in Asia. The only non-Asian city in the top 10 was Cairo, Egypt. The complete top 10 is as follows:

Jakarta, 41.9 million.

Dhaka, 36.6 million.

Tokyo, 33.4 million.

New Delhi, 30.2 million.

Shanghai, 29.6 million.

Guangzhou, 27.6 million.

Cairo, 25.6 million.

Manila, 24.7 million.

Kolkata, 22.5 million.

Seoul, 22.5 million.

The UN estimates that 45% of the world’s 8.2 billion people live in urban areas, double what it was in 1950.

Reflect: What do you think would change if the number of people around you suddenly grew or shrank?

Jakarta Jumps, Tokyo Tumbles as UN Updates Population Figures

Jakarta Jumps, Tokyo Tumbles as UN Updates Population Figures

Jakarta Jumps, Tokyo Tumbles as UN Updates Population Figures

Jakarta Jumps, Tokyo Tumbles as UN Updates Population Figures