When talking of cities growth, usually names like New York City or Tokyo pop up, like no other mega city exists in the world!
However, the world is changing faster than we can imagine, and it feels like those unknown places that no one even knows, are finding a reputation for themselves, and probably before USA figure things out, Asia and Africa will take over as the world’s powers!
In this post, we’ll introduce you to the world’s fastest growing cities in the world, based on their growth in a period of 20 years (2000-2020)
20- Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Nanjing’s population grew from 4,279 Million in 2000 to 8.847 Million in 2020.

19- Bogotá, Colombia
Bogotá’s population grew from 6.329 Million in 2000 to 10.978 Million in 2020.

18- Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Suzhou’s population grew from 2.112 Million in 2000 to 7.070 Million in 2020.

17- São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo’s population grew from 17.014 Million in 2000 to 22.043 Million in 2020.

16- Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Guangzhou’s population grew from 7.812 Million in 2000 to 13.302 Million in 2020.

15- Luanda, Angola
Luanda’s population grew from 2.829 Million in 2000 to 8.330 Million in 2020.

14- Shenzhen, China
Shenzhen’s population grew from 6.550 Million in 2000 to 12.357 Million in 2020.

13- Karachi, Pakistan
Karachi’s population grew from 9.825 Million in 2000 to 16.094 Million in 2020.

12- Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul’s population grew from 8.744 Million in 2000 to 15.190 Million in 2020.

11- Tianjin, China
Tianjin’s population grew from 6.989 Million in 2000 to 13.589 Million in 2020.

10- Bangalore, India
Bangalore’s population grew from 5.581 Million in 2000 to 12.327 Million in 2020.

9- Lahore, Pakistan
Lahore’s population grew from 5.576 Million in 2000 to 12.642 Million in 2020.

8- Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos’s population grew from 7.281 Million in 2000 to 14.368 Million in 2020.

7- Cairo, Egypt
Cairo’s population grew from 13.626 Million in 2000 to 20.901 Million in 2020.

6- Chongqing, China
Chongqing’s population grew from 7.863 Million in 2000 to 15.872 Million in 2020.

5- Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kinshasa’s population grew from 6.140 Million in 2000 to 14.342 Million in 2020.

4- Beijing, China
Beijing’s population grew from 10.285 Million in 2000 to 20.463 Million in 2020.

3- Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka’s population grew from 10.285 Million in 2000 to 21.006 Million in 2020.
2- Shanghai, China
Shanghai’s population grew from 14.247 Million in 2000 to 27.058 Million in 2020.

1- Delhi, India
Delhi’s population grew from 15.692 Million in 2000 to 30.291 Million in 2020.

Great writeup but I live in Lagos, Nigeria and I can definitely tell you we’re way above 20 million at the moment. I think you should check that or maybe use percentages next time.
Cheers.
Thank you for your comment Emmanuel.
I checkef the official numbers. What is your estimate of the population?
21 million if not more.
I actually don’t think of places like New York when I think of fast-growing cities, because big cities in the older part of the US have kind of reached their peak already. Most of the fast-growing cities in the US are in places like Texas and the Mountain West. But I also was not surprised one bit that this entire list was full of cities outside the US.
That’s right. I was actually surprised too when I was researching for this post.
But you’re right. Famous US cities kind of reached their maximum level of capacity already, plus people around the world aren’t that interested in migrating to the US as much as before.
Thank you for your comment dear Greg.
I saw a few BBC tv programs on city growth and a lot of these were mentioned. I have a friend who is from Shanghai and is quite proud of it as a growing city. In fact, she kind of looks down on Beijing because Shanghai tends to get overlooked by comparison.
One of my Chinese friends is from shanghai too. He says whenever he goes back there, people ask him why he’s living in a village like Vancouver? Lol
Oh that’s funny! Yeah, my friend thinks the SF Bay Area is more relaxed by comparison. I told her about London and she said it sounds more like Shanghai than SF
But you know? I kinda agree! Vancouver is more of a big village which is the main reason why I’m in love with it!
It sounds like it might expand though because whenever I hear of people talking about moving to Canada, they want to go to Vancouver
Hahaha! I live in Lagos, Nigeria! There are a lot of people. It’s a city alright. Great one DB!
That’s right!
Lucky you! I loved Lagos! 😊
Hahaha!