This list ranks metropolitan areas in Europe by their population according to three different sources; it includes metropolitan areas that have a population of over 1 million.
List includes metropolitan areas according only to the studies of ESPON, Eurostat, and OECD. For this reason some metropolitan areas, like the Italian Genoa Metropolitan Area (with a population of 1,510,781 as of 2010[1]) or the Ukrainian Kryvyi Rih metropolitan area (with a population of 1,170,953 as of 2019[2]), are not included in this list, with data by other statistic survey institutes.
Figures in the first three columns correspond to Functional urban areas (FUA). The concept of a functional urban area defines a metropolitan area as a core urban area defined morphologically on the basis of population density, plus the surrounding labour pool defined on the basis of commuting. Figures in the first two columns use a harmonised definition of a Functional urban area developed jointly in 2011, with delimitation basing on the DEGURBA method.[3][4]
Further information on how the areas are defined can be found in the source documents. These figures should be seen as an interpretation, not as conclusive fact.
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Metropolitan area name | Country | OECD (2020)[5] |
Eurostat[6] | ESPON (2006)[7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amsterdam metropolitan area | Netherlands | 2,017,935 | 2,915,114 (2022) | 2,497,000[a] |
Antwerp | Belgium | 1,860,869 | 1,157,068 (2021) | 1,406,000[b] |
Athens metropolitan area | Greece | 3,618,860 | 3,828,434 (2011) | 3,761,000 |
Barcelona metropolitan area | Spain | 5,345,763 | 5,093,585 (2022) | 4,082,000[c] |
Belgrade | Serbia | 1,612,587 | — | — |
Berlin metropolitan area | Germany | 4,558,043 | 4,979,867 (2021) | 4,016,000 |
Bilbao metropolitan area | Spain | 957,261 | 1,041,059 (2022) | 947,000 |
Bordeaux | France | 1,085,823 | 1,376,375 (2020) | 918,000 |
Greater Bristol | United Kingdom | 1,274,128 | 955,541 (2018) | 1,041,000 |
Brussels metropolitan area | Belgium | 2,338,157 | 3,350,969 (2022) | 2,639,000[b] |
Bucharest metropolitan area | Romania | 2,348,982 | 2,478,618 (2018) | 2,064,000 |
Budapest metropolitan area | Hungary | 2,798,396 | 3,001,643 (2022) | 2,523,000 |
Cardiff | United Kingdom | 1,165,502 | 915,466 (2018) | 1,097,000 |
Copenhagen metropolitan area | Denmark | 2,088,197 | 1,928,612 (2013) | 1,881,000[d] |
Dnipro | Ukraine | 1,014,593 | — | — |
Donetsk | Ukraine | 1,450,194 | — | — |
Dublin Metropolitan Area | Ireland | 1,721,812 | 1,793,902 (2011) | 1,477,000 |
Frankfurt Rhine-Main | Germany | 3,167,862 | 2,678,557 (2021) | 2,764,000[e] |
Gdańsk (Tricity) | Poland | 987,006 | 1,223,884 (2021) | 993,000 |
Greater Glasgow | United Kingdom | 1,790,499 | 1,830,710 (2018) | 1,395,000 |
Gothenburg | Sweden | 941,867 | 1,021,831 (2018) | 759,000 |
The Hague | Netherlands | 3,592,389[f] | 1,132,975 (2021) | 1,404,000[a] |
Hamburg Metropolitan Region | Germany | 2,763,491 | 3,421,692 (2021) | 2,983,000 |
Hannover | Germany | 1,156,114 | 1,289,320 (2021) | 997,000[g] |
Helsinki Metropolitan Area | Finland | 1,439,175 | 1,551,959 (2022) | 1,285,000 |
Istanbul[h] | Turkey | 14,693,269 | 11,044,642 (2004) | — |
Katowice metropolitan area | Poland | 2,843,725 | 2,417,386 (2021) | 3,029,000[i] |
Kazan metropolitan area | Russia | 1,341,784 | — | — |
Kharkiv | Ukraine | 1,713,794 | — | — |
Kraków metropolitan area | Poland | 1,339,089 | 1,489,912 (2021) | 1,236,000 |
Kyiv metropolitan area | Ukraine | 3,545,076 | — | — |
Lille | France | 1,226,810 | 1,515,061 (2020) | 1,161,000[j] |
Lisbon metropolitan area | Portugal | 2,731,340 | 3,049,222 (2023) | 2,591,000 |
Łódź metropolitan area | Poland | 1,041,339 | 893,083 (2021) | 1,165,000 |
London metropolitan area | United Kingdom | 13,475,297 | 12,434,823 (2018) | 11,203,000 |
Lyon | France | 2,090,206 | 2,293,180 (2020) | 1,669,000 |
Madrid metropolitan area | Spain | 6,989,714 | 6,982,656 (2022) | 5,263,000 |
Málaga-Marbella | Spain | 1,288,693[k] | 1,230,313[l] (2022) | 775,000[m] |
Greater Manchester | United Kingdom | 3,374,693 | 3,348,274 (2018) | 2,556,000 |
Mannheim-Ludwigshafen | Germany | 1,755,988 | 1,318,805 (2021) | 1,136,000[n] |
Marseille | France | 1,322,989[o] | 1,879,601 (2020) | 1,530,000 |
Merseyside (Liverpool/Birkenhead) | United Kingdom | 1,729,058 | 1,533,860 (2018) | 2,241,000 |
Milan metropolitan area | Italy | 5,301,987 | 4,934,205 (2022) | 4,136,000[p] |
Minsk metropolitan area | Belarus | 2,173,105 | — | — |
Moscow metropolitan area | Russia | 17,217,606 | — | — |
Munich | Germany | 2,618,482 | 3,016,834 (2021) | 2,665,000[q] |
Nantes | France | 946,441 | 1,022,775 (2020) | 708,000 |
Naples metropolitan area | Italy | 4,095,364 | 3,303,711 (2022) | 2,905,000[r] |
Nice | France | 1,143,557 | 618,489 (2020) | 1,082,000 |
Nizhny Novgorod | Russia | 1,430,212 | — | — |
Nottingham-Derby | United Kingdom | 1,618,393 | 1,406,315[s] (2018) | 1,534,000 |
Northwest Metropolitan Region (Bremen) | Germany | 912,616 | 1,046,897 (2021) | 1,077,000 |
Nuremberg Metropolitan Region | Germany | 1,307,726 | 1,181,541 (2021) | 1,443,000 |
Odesa | Ukraine | 1,273,381 | — | — |
Greater Oslo Region | Norway | 1,422,223 | 1,278,827 (2013) | 1,037,000 |
Ostrava metropolitan area | Czech Republic | 751,133[t] | 695,244 (2022) | 1,046,000[i] |
Paris metropolitan area | France | 11,249,025 | 13,125,142 (2020) | 11,175,000 |
Porto Metropolitan Area | Portugal | 1,651,124 | 1,316,989 (2023) | 1,245,000[u] |
Portsmouth-Southampton | United Kingdom | 1,390,006 | 1,230,011[v] (2018) | 1,547,000 |
Poznań metropolitan area | Poland | 975,965 | 1,051,414 (2021) | 919,000 |
Prague metropolitan area | Czech Republic | 1,977,776 | 2,216,746 (2022) | 1,669,000 |
Rhein-Nord[w] (Düsseldorf - Neuss) | Germany | 2,557,228[x] | 2,247,629[y] (2021) | 3,073,000[z][aa] |
Rhein-Süd[w] (Cologne - Bonn) | Germany | 3,354,797 | 3,005,728[ab] (2021) | 3,070,000[aa] |
Riga metropolitan area | Latvia | 762,194 | 917,351 (2022) | 1,195,000 |
Rome metropolitan area | Italy | 3,684,930 | 4,291,581 (2022) | 5,190,000 |
Rostov-on-Don | Russia | 1,349,583 | — | — |
Rotterdam | Netherlands | 3,592,389[f] | 1,902,704 (2022) | 1,904,000[a] |
Ruhr[w] | Germany | 6,108,500 | 5,068,912 (2021) | 5,376,000[ac][aa] |
Saarbrücken - Forbach | Germany/ France |
582,231[ad] | 522,983[ad] (2021) | 1,102,000 |
Saint Petersburg metropolitan area | Russia | 5,518,560 | — | — |
Samara | Russia | 1,307,406 | — | — |
Saratov | Russia | 1,097,493 | — | — |
Seville | Spain | 1,299,106 | 1,556,975 (2021) | 1,180,000[ae] |
Sofia | Bulgaria | 1,488,887 | 1,531,867 (2022) | 1,174,000 |
South Yorkshire (Sheffield-Doncaster) | United Kingdom | 1,166,720 | 1,189,393 (2018) | 1,869,000 |
Metropolitan Stockholm | Sweden | 2,241,651 | 2,308,143 (2018) | 2,171,000 |
Stuttgart Metropolitan Region | Germany | 2,300,011 | 2,531,040 (2021) | 2,289,000 |
Tbilisi[af] | Georgia | 1,042,204 | — | — |
Thessaloniki metropolitan area | Greece | 1,011,795 | 973,997 (2011) | 1,052,000 |
Toulouse | France | 1,332,370 | 1,470,899 (2020) | 832,000 |
Turin metropolitan area | Italy | 1,828,088 | 1,712,372 (2022) | 1,601,000[ag] |
Tyne and Wear (Newcastle-Sunderland) | United Kingdom | 1,719,730 | 1,175,274 (2018) | 1,599,000 |
Ufa | Russia | 1,149,103 | — | — |
Valencia | Spain | 1,916,932 | 1,775,845 (2022) | 1,398,000[ah] |
Vienna | Austria | 2,565,196 | — | 2,584,000 |
Volgograd | Russia | 1,402,254 | — | — |
Voronezh | Russia | 1,127,100 | — | — |
Warsaw metropolitan area | Poland | 2,975,932 | 3,374,742 (2021) | 2,785,000 |
West Midlands conurbation (Birmingham) | United Kingdom | 3,083,783 | 3,097,965 (2018) | 3,683,000 |
West Yorkshire Built-up Area (Leeds - Bradford) | United Kingdom | 3,010,473 | 2,619,128 (2018) | 2,302,000 |
Yerevan[af] | Armenia | 1,232,670 | — | — |
Zagreb metropolitan area | Croatia | 1,008,763 | 1,161,259 (2022) | — |
Zürich metropolitan area | Switzerland | 2,124,246 | 1,951,341 (2022) | 1,615,000 |
Rank | Area | State | Population[8] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region | Germany | 12,190,000 |
2 | Randstad | Netherlands | 6,787,000 |
3 | Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area | Poland/ Czech Republic | 5,294,000 |
4 | Flemish Diamond | Belgium | 5,103,000 |
5 | Vienna-Bratislava metropolitan region | Austria/ Slovakia | 4,600,000 |
Until recently, there was no harmonised definition of 'a city' for European and other countries member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This undermined the comparability, and thus also the credibility, of cross-country analysis of cities. To resolve this problem, the OECD and the European Commission developed a new definition of a city and its commuting zone in 2011. […] Each city is part of its own commuting zone or a polycentric commuting zone covering multiple cities. These commuting zones are significant, especially for larger cities. The cities and commuting zones together (called Larger Urban Zones) account for 60 % of the EU population.
Within the Urban Audit, (...) functional urban areas were previously referred to as 'larger urban zones'.