Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia
Russia: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 24.98 million people in 2020. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Russia recorded 24.98 million people for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in 2020.
The figure is up 5.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia peaked at 25.29 million people in 1990 and was at its lowest, 7.90 million people, in 1950.
That places Russia 15th out of 182 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 8.24 million people | 7.90 million people | 8.57 million people | 2 |
| 1960s | 13.23 million people | 12.68 million people | 13.79 million people | 2 |
| 1970s | 17.66 million people | 15.97 million people | 19.35 million people | 2 |
| 1980s | 23.16 million people | 22.68 million people | 23.65 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 24.09 million people | 22.89 million people | 25.29 million people | 2 |
| 2000s | 23.61 million people | 23.29 million people | 23.92 million people | 2 |
| 2010s | 24.18 million people | 23.68 million people | 24.68 million people | 2 |
| 2020s | 24.98 million people | 24.98 million people | 24.98 million people | 1 |
Countries ranked near Russia
- 12 South Korea 30.90 million people compare
- 13 Philippines 29.67 million people compare
- 14 Turkey 26.91 million people compare
- 16 Iran 22.00 million people compare
- 17 Vietnam 21.58 million people compare
- 18 Democratic Republic of Congo 19.22 million people compare
More reference data data for Russia
- Temperature anomalies by month -1.2 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.68 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.87 °C (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.03 °C (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.367 °C (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 6 (2025)
- Free country 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia?
- Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Russia was 24.98 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 Russia?
- The highest recorded value was 25.29 million people in 1990.
- What is the lowest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Russia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.90 million people in 1950.
- How does Russia rank for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Russia ranks 15th 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 Russia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Russia 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.
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CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.