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Osaka — UN urban centre

12,964,145

Osaka: 12,964,145 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #25 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 4490; territory: Japan (JPN). 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: 34.7225, 135.4796. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
197514,448,054Estimate
198014,742,356Estimate
198514,752,691Estimate
199015,001,183Estimate
199515,099,035Estimate
200014,487,830Estimate
200514,186,135Estimate
201014,203,979Estimate
201513,814,578Estimate
202013,456,617Estimate
202512,964,145Estimate
203012,410,577Projection
203511,907,292Projection
204011,401,735Projection
204510,917,121Projection
205010,449,439Projection

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.

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