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Motherwell — UN urban centre

165,100

Motherwell: 165,100 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #3,666 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 2330; territory: South Africa (ZAF). 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: -33.7989, 25.5905. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
197557,759Estimate
198077,658Estimate
198588,977Estimate
1990109,489Estimate
1995121,485Estimate
2000126,938Estimate
2005134,812Estimate
2010142,160Estimate
2015149,864Estimate
2020163,061Estimate
2025165,100Estimate
2030165,174Projection
2035165,322Projection
2040164,837Projection
2045164,440Projection
2050163,721Projection

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.