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Germany's largest cities, 1975 to 2050

Berlin is Germany's largest city at about 3.56 million in 2025, ahead of Essen (2.72 million), Munich (1.82 million) and Hamburg (1.76 million).

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What the data shows

  • In 2025, Berlin ranks #1 with 3.56M, ahead of Essen (2.72M) and Munich (1.82M).
  • By 2050, on the UN's projections, Berlin is projected to rank #1 with 3.35M, ahead of Essen (2.55M) and Munich (1.84M).
  • Berlin holds #1 for the whole period, 1975 to 2025.
  • Biggest climber: Frankfurt, from #10 in 1975 to #6 in 2050.

About this chart

Essen at number two surprises many readers, and it comes from the definition. The UN counts contiguous dense areas, so the Ruhr region's connected cities show up as one large urban area under Essen: about 2.85 million in 1975 and 2.72 million in 2025. Berlin leads at about 3.56 million, up from 3.03 million in 1975 and around 3.3 million or more in every estimate since 1990.

Munich is the growth story. It rose from about 1.38 million in 1975 to 1.82 million in 2025 and is projected at 1.84 million by 2050, while Hamburg is projected to slip from 1.76 million to 1.68 million. The UN projects Berlin at 3.35 million in 2050. Values through 2025 are estimates and later years are projections. These figures differ from city-proper counts.

The data

Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts.

Germany's largest cities, Population in millions, 1975 to 2050, 1975–2050
Date🇩🇪 Berlin🇩🇪 Essen🇩🇪 Munich🇩🇪 Hamburg🇩🇪 Cologne🇩🇪 Dusseldorf🇩🇪 Frankfurt🇩🇪 Stuttgart🇩🇪 Bonn🇩🇪 Dortmund🇩🇪 Wuppertal
19753.03M2.85M1.38M1.62M0.87M0.75M0.68M0.77M0.60M0.75M0.70M
19802.97M2.84M1.38M1.55M0.91M0.73M0.66M0.75M0.60M0.74M0.68M
19852.95M2.70M1.35M1.48M0.87M0.68M0.62M0.72M0.60M0.69M0.67M
19903.33M2.80M1.28M1.52M0.91M0.75M0.68M0.74M0.62M0.73M0.71M
19953.41M2.83M1.35M1.59M0.96M0.76M0.72M0.79M0.67M0.74M0.72M
20003.33M2.71M1.27M1.57M0.95M0.76M0.71M0.79M0.66M0.71M0.70M
20053.31M2.67M1.38M1.65M0.97M0.76M0.72M0.81M0.71M0.72M0.67M
20103.28M2.56M1.50M1.65M0.99M0.76M0.75M0.83M0.70M0.66M0.64M
20153.36M2.54M1.61M1.68M1.03M0.82M0.80M0.86M0.72M0.66M0.64M
20203.54M2.70M1.77M1.75M1.12M0.90M0.89M0.89M0.75M0.74M0.66M
20253.56M2.72M1.82M1.76M1.13M0.91M0.90M0.90M0.76M0.75M0.66M
20303.50M2.68M1.82M1.73M1.11M0.89M0.89M0.89M0.74M0.70M0.65M
20353.47M2.64M1.83M1.72M1.10M0.88M0.89M0.89M0.74M0.69M0.64M
20403.43M2.61M1.84M1.71M1.08M0.87M0.88M0.88M0.73M0.68M0.64M
20453.39M2.58M1.84M1.69M1.07M0.86M0.88M0.88M0.72M0.68M0.63M
20503.35M2.55M1.84M1.68M1.06M0.85M0.87M0.87M0.71M0.67M0.62M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Germany?

In 2025, Berlin ranks #1 with 3.56M, followed by Essen (2.72M) and Munich (1.82M). Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025).

What is the largest city in Germany?

Berlin is the largest city in Germany in 2025, with about 3.56 million people under the UN's Degree of Urbanization definition. Essen is second at about 2.72 million, followed by Munich at about 1.82 million and Hamburg at about 1.76 million.

Why is Essen ahead of Munich and Hamburg?

Under the UN definition, Essen represents a large contiguous dense urban area (the Ruhr), not just the municipality of Essen. That puts it at about 2.72 million in 2025, well above Munich and Hamburg. A city-proper ranking would look quite different.

Is Germany's population concentrated in a few big cities?

In this data the top city is Berlin at about 3.56 million, and no German city is above 4 million. Only Berlin, Essen, Munich and Hamburg are above 1.5 million in 2025. The UN projects only Munich of the top four growing between 2025 and 2050.

Where does this data come from?

UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

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