Beijing — UN urban centre
Beijing: 17,013,303 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #16 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 9020; 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: 39.9275, 116.3722. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 5,154,971 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 5,564,199 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 6,001,087 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 6,615,743 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 7,970,314 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 9,635,380 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 11,731,870 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 14,332,332 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 15,431,938 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 16,484,278 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 17,013,303 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 17,583,507 | Projection |
| 2035 | 17,856,123 | Projection |
| 2040 | 18,069,990 | Projection |
| 2045 | 18,100,278 | Projection |
| 2050 | 18,004,156 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
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