Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India
India: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 18.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India stood at 18.9%. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 11.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India peaked at 18.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 5.9%, in 1950.
That places India 79th out of 180 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 6.1% | 5.9% | 6.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 7.1% | 6.8% | 7.5% | 2 |
| 1970s | 8.5% | 8.3% | 8.7% | 2 |
| 1980s | 10.4% | 9.8% | 11.1% | 2 |
| 1990s | 13.0% | 12.4% | 13.6% | 2 |
| 2000s | 15.6% | 15.2% | 16.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 17.5% | 17.1% | 17.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 18.9% | 18.9% | 18.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near India
- 76 Nicaragua 19.5% compare
- 77 Guinea 19.1% compare
- 78 Azerbaijan 19.0% compare
- 80 Kyrgyzstan 18.8% compare
- 81 Burkina Faso 18.5% compare
- 82 Portugal 18.0% compare
More reference data data for India
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.8635 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.6189 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.0088 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.3046 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.2053 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 233.06 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in India was 18.9% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 18.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.9% in 1950.
- How does India rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- India ranks 79th out of 180 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of the 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.