Jakarta is now the world's largest city by population.

The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, is home to nearly 42 million, according to a new report from the United Nations, making it the most densely populated urban area on the globe. It is followed by Dhaka, Bangladesh, with almost 37 million and Tokyo, Japan, with 33 million.

The last time the U.N. released its "World Urbanization Prospects" report in 2018, Tokyo was the world's most populous city and Jakarta was ranked 33rd.

The authors of the Nov. 2025 report noted that over the past quarter century, the population of Tokyo has grown more slowly than the populations of Jakarta and Dhaka, leading to its drop in rank, which is expected to continue over the coming decades.

While Jakarta holds the top spot now, experts project Dhaka will become the largest city by 2050.

The report, which provides estimates and projections on the world's population, detailed the stark rise in urbanization that's seen dwindling populations in rural areas and the creation of more megacities, which are those with more than 10 million inhabitants.

The authors said more than half of the Earth's 8.2 billion people now live in cities – a stark rise from 1950 when only 20% of the world lived in metropolitan areas.

Asia is leading the globe in population growth, the report says. Today, the only city in the top 10 located outside Asia is Cairo, Egypt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the world's largest city? It just changed, UN says.

Reporting by Christopher Cann, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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