Kenya vs Tanzania: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents
Kenya
6.97 million people
in 2020
Tanzania
6.85 million people
in 2020
Kenya rank
39th
Tanzania rank
41st
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents over time
- Kenya
- Tanzania
How they compare
Kenya currently reports 6.97 million people against 6.85 million people in Tanzania, a difference of 115,250 people.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Tanzania ahead.
Kenya ranks 39th and Tanzania ranks 41st of 182 countries.
Kenya has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Kenya | Tanzania | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0 people | 0 people | 0 people | — |
| 1960s | 0 people | 0 people | 0 people | — |
| 1970s | 0 people | 0 people | 0 people | — |
| 1980s | 542,080 people | 0 people | 542,080 people | Kenya |
| 1990s | 1.72 million people | 1.40 million people | 322,840 people | Kenya |
| 2000s | 2.86 million people | 2.41 million people | 450,755 people | Kenya |
| 2010s | 5.32 million people | 4.49 million people | 824,735 people | Kenya |
| 2020s | 6.97 million people | 6.85 million people | 115,250 people | Kenya |
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, Kenya or Tanzania?
- Kenya, at 6.97 million people against 6.85 million people in Tanzania as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents between Kenya and Tanzania?
- 115,250 people, with Kenya ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Kenya and Tanzania?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Kenya and Tanzania rank globally for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Kenya ranks 39th and Tanzania ranks 41st 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.