Shenzhen — UN urban centre
Shenzhen: 13,878,396 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #23 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 11478; territory: China (CHN). UN source workbook.
Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.
Source centroid: 22.7078, 114.0066. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 487,944 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 676,929 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 800,637 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 1,377,937 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 3,365,371 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 8,180,960 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 10,001,708 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 11,671,088 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 12,485,865 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 13,433,855 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 13,878,396 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 14,273,003 | Projection |
| 2035 | 14,496,174 | Projection |
| 2040 | 14,682,801 | Projection |
| 2045 | 14,720,439 | Projection |
| 2050 | 14,660,570 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
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