Population in Cities to Increase by 2.5 billion by 2050

There are more than 10 million people living in top mega cities such as Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Mexico City and Sao Paulo, according to a United Nations report. By the year 2045, that number is expected to increase as the U.N.’s World Urbanization Prospects reports said that it likely that more than six billion people will be city dwellers by then.

According to John Wilmoth, director of the Population Division in the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the increase in the city population will be due to a “preference of people to move from rural to urban areas, and the overall positive growth rate of the world’s population, which is projected to continue over the next 35 years.”

Much of the growth in the overall population, will be in countries especially in Asia and Africa, where there will be a number of people in cities by 2.5 billion over the next three decades. India, China and Nigeria will have 37 percent of the projected growth in the next three decades, with India adding 404 million city residents, China 292 million, and Nigeria 212 million, by 2050.

At present Tokyo is the world’s most populous city with a population of 38 million, followed by Delhi with 25 million, Shanghai with 23 million and Mexico City, Mumbai and Sao Paulo, each with around 21 million people.