Shanghai — UN urban centre
Shanghai: 29,558,908 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #5 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 11738; 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: 31.2148, 121.4369. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 4,542,787 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 4,922,471 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 6,276,781 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 7,783,199 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 10,567,164 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 14,034,558 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 17,111,107 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 20,525,275 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 23,830,644 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 27,654,481 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 29,558,908 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 31,297,216 | Projection |
| 2035 | 32,573,019 | Projection |
| 2040 | 33,759,030 | Projection |
| 2045 | 34,447,640 | Projection |
| 2050 | 34,912,186 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
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