Canada vs Spain: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Canada
10.54 million people
in 2020
Spain
10.73 million people
in 2020
Canada rank
30th
Spain rank
29th
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time
- Canada
- Spain
How they compare
Spain currently reports 10.73 million people against 10.54 million people in Canada, a difference of 188,900 people.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Spain has been ahead every year.
Canada ranks 30th and Spain ranks 29th of 182 countries.
Spain has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0 people | 3.12 million people | 3.12 million people | Spain |
| 1960s | 2.66 million people | 3.97 million people | 1.31 million people | Spain |
| 1970s | 3.49 million people | 5.01 million people | 1.52 million people | Spain |
| 1980s | 4.12 million people | 6.70 million people | 2.58 million people | Spain |
| 1990s | 5.83 million people | 7.24 million people | 1.41 million people | Spain |
| 2000s | 7.47 million people | 8.26 million people | 785,790 people | Spain |
| 2010s | 8.75 million people | 9.54 million people | 789,145 people | Spain |
| 2020s | 10.54 million people | 10.73 million people | 188,900 people | Spain |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents, Canada or Spain?
- Spain, at 10.73 million people against 10.54 million people in Canada as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Canada and Spain?
- 188,900 people, with Spain ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and Spain?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Canada and Spain rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Canada ranks 30th and Spain ranks 29th of 182 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.