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Xi'an — UN urban centre

5,231,053

Xi'an: 5,231,053 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #77 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 8371; 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: 34.2549, 108.9468. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
19751,540,149Estimate
19801,682,001Estimate
19852,065,122Estimate
19902,796,240Estimate
19953,402,116Estimate
20003,982,040Estimate
20054,388,191Estimate
20104,738,857Estimate
20155,010,105Estimate
20205,275,230Estimate
20255,231,053Estimate
20305,157,574Projection
20355,063,637Projection
20404,961,309Projection
20454,885,297Projection
20504,744,642Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.