Germany vs Spain: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Germany
10.87 million people
in 2020
Spain
10.73 million people
in 2020
Germany rank
27th
Spain rank
29th
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time
- Germany
- Spain
How they compare
Germany currently reports 10.87 million people against 10.73 million people in Spain, a difference of 138,900 people.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Germany ahead.
Germany ranks 27th and Spain ranks 29th of 182 countries.
Germany has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 8.10 million people | 3.12 million people | 4.98 million people | Germany |
| 1960s | 8.70 million people | 3.97 million people | 4.74 million people | Germany |
| 1970s | 8.98 million people | 5.01 million people | 3.98 million people | Germany |
| 1980s | 8.61 million people | 6.70 million people | 1.92 million people | Germany |
| 1990s | 9.05 million people | 7.24 million people | 1.81 million people | Germany |
| 2000s | 8.94 million people | 8.26 million people | 683,305 people | Germany |
| 2010s | 9.60 million people | 9.54 million people | 65,315 people | Germany |
| 2020s | 10.87 million people | 10.73 million people | 138,900 people | Germany |
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, Germany or Spain?
- Germany, at 10.87 million people against 10.73 million people in Spain as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Germany and Spain?
- 138,900 people, with Germany ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Spain?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Germany and Spain rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Germany ranks 27th 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.