Colombia vs Democratic Republic of Congo: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents

Colombia
17.92 million people
in 2020
Democratic Republic of Congo
19.22 million people
in 2020
Colombia rank
19th
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
18th

Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time

  • Colombia
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M195019852020

How they compare

Democratic Republic of Congo currently reports 19.22 million people against 17.92 million people in Colombia, a difference of 1.29 million people.

That makes Democratic Republic of Congo's figure about 1.1 times Colombia's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Democratic Republic of Congo ahead.

Colombia ranks 19th and Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th of 182 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Colombia averaged higher in 7 and Democratic Republic of Congo in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Difference Ahead
1950s 584,670 people 0 people 584,670 people Colombia
1960s 2.48 million people 0 people 2.48 million people Colombia
1970s 5.42 million people 517,810 people 4.90 million people Colombia
1980s 8.20 million people 3.02 million people 5.18 million people Colombia
1990s 10.70 million people 5.21 million people 5.48 million people Colombia
2000s 13.24 million people 9.20 million people 4.04 million people Colombia
2010s 15.87 million people 13.02 million people 2.85 million people Colombia
2020s 17.92 million people 19.22 million people 1.29 million people Democratic Republic of Congo

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, Colombia or Democratic Republic of Congo?
Democratic Republic of Congo, at 19.22 million people against 17.92 million people in Colombia as of 2020.
What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Colombia and Democratic Republic of Congo?
1.29 million people, with Democratic Republic of Congo ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Colombia and Democratic Republic of Congo?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Colombia and Democratic Republic of Congo rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
Colombia ranks 19th and Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 18th 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

Indicator
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Unit
people
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
182 places, 2,532 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

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.