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

Germany: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 10.87 million people in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
10.87 million people
World rank
27th
of 182 countries
All-time high
10.87 million people
in 2020
All-time low
8.08 million people
in 1950
Years of data
15
1950–2020

Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Germany, 1950–2020

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M1950198520201950: 8.1M people1955: 8.1M people1960: 8.6M people1965: 8.8M people1970: 9.1M people1975: 8.9M people1980: 8.7M people1985: 8.5M people1990: 8.9M people1995: 9.2M people2000: 8.9M people2005: 9.0M people2010: 9.0M people2015: 10.2M people2020: 10.9M people

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

In 2020, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Germany stood at 10.87 million people. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.

The figure is up 20.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Germany peaked at 10.87 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 8.08 million people, in 1950.

Germany ranks 27th of 182 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 8.10 million people 8.08 million people 8.12 million people 2
1960s 8.70 million people 8.58 million people 8.83 million people 2
1970s 8.98 million people 8.88 million people 9.09 million people 2
1980s 8.61 million people 8.48 million people 8.75 million people 2
1990s 9.05 million people 8.92 million people 9.18 million people 2
2000s 8.94 million people 8.87 million people 9.01 million people 2
2010s 9.60 million people 8.99 million people 10.21 million people 2
2020s 10.87 million people 10.87 million people 10.87 million people 1

Countries ranked near Germany

  1. 24 Saudi Arabia 15.00 million people compare
  2. 25 Taiwan 14.82 million people compare
  3. 26 Iraq 13.05 million people compare
  4. 28 Angola 10.81 million people compare
  5. 29 Spain 10.73 million people compare
  6. 30 Canada 10.54 million people compare

See the full ranking of 182 places →

More reference data data for Germany

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Germany?
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Germany was 10.87 million people in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Germany?
The highest recorded value was 10.87 million people in 2020.
What is the lowest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Germany?
The lowest recorded value was 8.08 million people in 1950.
How does Germany rank for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
Germany ranks 27th out of 182 countries with data for 2020.
Is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in Germany?
Over the last ten years it is up 20.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Germany 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 Number of people 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

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.