73,920people per km² · Manila
Short answer: the most densely populated city in the world is Manila, the capital of the Philippines. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the 2020 census counted 73,920 people per square kilometre. The city with the most inhabitants is a different question: according to the United Nations, that is now Jakarta.
People searching for the most densely populated city usually mean one of two things: the city where people live closest together (people per km²), or the city with the largest population. Those are two different rankings, and you will find both below.
Most densely populated: Manila
Manila is small in area, but home to more than 1.8 million people. The 2020 census recorded 1,846,513 residents on 24.98 km², which works out at almost 74,000 people per square kilometre. Manila also sits at the heart of Metro Manila, an urban region of many millions.
For comparison: The Hague, the most densely populated municipality in the Netherlands, had 6,863 inhabitants per km² on 1 January 2026, according to Statistics Netherlands. People in Manila live more than ten times closer together.
The largest cities in the world
If you look at the total population of an urban area, Jakarta comes first. That is the outcome of the United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report, as reported by Al Jazeera. Tokyo, the largest city for many years, dropped to third place.
- Jakarta (Indonesia): 41.9 million
- Dhaka (Bangladesh): 36.6 million
- Tokyo (Japan): 33.4 million
- Cairo (Egypt): 32 million
- New Delhi (India): 30.2 million
- Shanghai (China): 29.6 million
- Guangzhou (China): 27.6 million
- Manila (Philippines): 24.7 million
- Kolkata (India): 22.5 million
- Seoul (South Korea): 22.5 million
The UN counts the entire continuous urban area, not just the municipality. That is why these figures differ from lists based on official city limits.
Why do the rankings differ so much?
- City limits or urban area: some cities have official boundaries that include a lot of farmland, while the built-up area of others extends far beyond the city limits.
- Timing: countries do not all hold a census in the same year, and fast-growing cities such as Lagos change quickly.
- Density or size: a city can be very densely populated without being one of the largest, as Manila shows.
Most densely populated countries
Among countries, small states such as Monaco and Singapore come out on top, because almost their entire territory is urban.
Final edit: Jan Willem Beumer, editor-in-chief of Mindbogglingmedia
