Most of the world’s fastest-growing megacities will soon be in Africa | Our World in Data
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Data InsightsMost of the world’s fastest-growing megacities will soon be in Africa<br>July 28, 2026<br>Most of the world’s fastest-growing megacities will soon be in Africa
Esteban Ortiz-Ospina<br>Hannah Ritchie<br>Download
Many cities across East Asia and Latin America have grown quickly over the last few decades. Since 1950, São Paulo’s population has grown sixfold. Shanghai’s nearly tenfold.<br>This rapid growth is now ending. São Paulo is near its population peak, and Shanghai is projected to peak around 2050.<br>The fastest-growing megacities are now emerging elsewhere. In the chart, you can see various examples: Karachi in South Asia, and Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, and Luanda in Africa.<br>Luanda, the capital of Angola, is an interesting case. It gets much less attention than well-established megacities, but as the chart shows, it's on track to overtake São Paulo in about 20 years and Shanghai in about 60.<br>In this dataset from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, only 24 of today’s 100 largest cities are projected to still be growing by 2100; of those, 12 are in Africa, and 5 are in South Asia.<br>Of course, these rely on projections — often many decades ahead — and those come with a lot of uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide a useful perspective on what the future of cities across the world might look like.<br>Explore the full data for other cities in our interactive chart
Related topic pages:<br>Urbanization
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