China vs India: Population in largest city

China
30.48 million
in 2025
India
34.67 million
in 2025
China rank
3rd
India rank
2nd

Population in largest city over time

  • China
  • India
10.0M20.0M30.0M196019922025

How they compare

India currently reports 34.67 million against 30.48 million in China, a difference of 4.18 million.

That makes India's figure about 1.1 times China's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was China ahead.

Globally, China ranks 3rd and India ranks 2nd of 153 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Population in largest city
Source
World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
153 places, 10,098 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.