Delhi leads the world in hourly population growth

Let's now look at the growth of India's cities. In fact, two of them seem to be outpacing the rest of the world. Ghaziabad and Surat have emerged as the world's fastest growing cities. This is according to the World Population Review's 2026 rankings, putting India at the forefront of the global urban boom. Let's just break this down. The ranking basically reveals a clear trend here. Asia and Africa are driving global urban growth with every city in the top 10 in fact coming from these two continents except one part in Mexico. Now Ghaziabad recorded an annual growth rate of 5.2 percent followed by Surat at 4.99 percent. Kabul in Afghanistan interestingly ranking third at 4.74%. Nigeria's Lagos, meanwhile, recorded 4.44% growth. India's Patna, Rajkot, Faridabad also featuring among the cities recording annual growth rates of around 4%. Now, let's also tell you Delhi adds the most residents every hour. Delhi ranks first globally in the number of new residents added every hour followed by Shanghai, Dhaka among others. The ranking also showing a shift in the world's most populous cities. Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world's largest city with 41.9 million people compared with Tokyo's 33.4 million. Dhaka ranking second with 36.6 million residents. Delhi is fourth with 30.2 million. Kolkata ranking ninth with 22.6 million people, followed by Mumbai at twelfth with 20.2 million. Around 55% of the world's population currently living in urban areas. This share is projected to reach 68% by 2050. The United Nations estimating that India, China and Nigeria will account for 35% of the global urban population growth between 2018 and 2050. But rapid growth also brings major challenges with infrastructure, public services struggling to keep pace in a way as well. In Lagos, fewer than 10% of the people living in homes connected to sewer systems, for example, while fewer than 20% have access to tap water, according to the World Population Review. And as cities continue to expand, the challenge is not just about accommodating more people, but also to ensure access to housing, clean water, sanitation and basic services.