Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Global megacities - statistics & facts
As the global population reached eight billion people at the end of 2022, more and more people live in cities and suburbs. While big cities offer vast employment and social opportunities, megacities are struggling with several challenges; poverty, crime, pollution, transport, and waste management are just some of the issues faced by the largest cities in the world.
The growth of megacities
Megacities are experiencing rapid growth, primarily due to migration from rural areas and an increase in the natural population. The number of people living in urban areas with 10 million inhabitants or more has rocketed from less than 70 million in 1975 to nearly 463 million in 2015. Whereas North America has the highest degree of urbanization, the 20 largest cities worldwide were all located in the so-called Global South. Furthermore, most areas with a population of 500,000 inhabitants or more are located in Asia, with China accounting for more than 25 percent of them.
Population density also varies from country to country and from city to city. Unsurprisingly, some of the smaller states by area and the world's city-states have the highest population densities globally. When it comes to the cities, Mogadishu in Somalia led the ranking of cities with the highest population density in 2023, with 33,244 residents per square kilometer.
Pros and cons of life in megacities
Megacities present various opportunities for their citizens, including access to education, a diversified job market, higher salaries, different means of transport, interconnectivity, and various social activities. Nevertheless, these opportunities come at a price. Some megacities face extreme costs of living, with Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva being the most expensive cities to live in worldwide. Experts have even started to highlight that some cities are now only livable for the richest in the population.
Finally, many increasingly concentrated urban areas often concentrate wealth and social inequalities, marked by slums and high crime rates. Slums, but also a lack of a proper transportation system, are particularly visible in developing countries where income inequalities tend to be high, and where public authorities struggle to keep up with the pace of the fast-growing cities. As the world's population is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace over the coming decades, these challenges are likely to continue to increase.
