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Johannesburg — UN urban centre

7,077,175

Johannesburg: 7,077,175 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #50 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 3664; 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: -26.1204, 27.8601. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
19751,180,560Estimate
19801,210,325Estimate
19851,299,644Estimate
19901,439,103Estimate
19952,031,050Estimate
20002,767,803Estimate
20053,912,682Estimate
20104,684,164Estimate
20155,425,198Estimate
20206,518,726Estimate
20257,077,175Estimate
20307,557,294Projection
20357,943,352Projection
20408,292,551Projection
20458,619,371Projection
20508,916,021Projection

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.