India vs Japan: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
India
265.71 million people
in 2020
Japan
64.56 million people
in 2020
India rank
2nd
Japan rank
5th
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time
- India
- Japan
How they compare
India currently reports 265.71 million people against 64.56 million people in Japan, a difference of 201.15 million people.
That makes India's figure about 4.1 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Japan ahead.
India ranks 2nd and Japan ranks 5th of 182 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, India averaged higher in 6 and Japan in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | India | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 22.53 million people | 25.18 million people | 2.65 million people | Japan |
| 1960s | 33.16 million people | 37.29 million people | 4.13 million people | Japan |
| 1970s | 49.28 million people | 48.44 million people | 844,450 people | India |
| 1980s | 76.49 million people | 54.58 million people | 21.91 million people | India |
| 1990s | 119.06 million people | 59.31 million people | 59.75 million people | India |
| 2000s | 173.34 million people | 60.87 million people | 112.46 million people | India |
| 2010s | 225.27 million people | 63.35 million people | 161.92 million people | India |
| 2020s | 265.71 million people | 64.56 million people | 201.15 million people | India |
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, India or Japan?
- India, at 265.71 million people against 64.56 million people in Japan as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between India and Japan?
- 201.15 million people, with India ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for India and Japan?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do India and Japan rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- India ranks 2nd and Japan ranks 5th 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.