This is a list of metropolitan areas. For a list of urban areas, see List of urban areas in Europe. For a list of cities proper, see List of European cities by population within city limits. For a list of European cities by country, see List of cities in Europe.
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.
Sources
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) or the Ukrainian Kryvyi Rih metropolitan area (with a population of 1,170,953 as of 2019), 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.
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.
Metropolitan areas
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|
| Metropolitan area name | Country | OECD (2020) |
Eurostat | ESPON (2006) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam metropolitan area |  Netherlands
|
2,017,935 | 2,915,114 (2022) | 2,497,000 |
| Antwerp |  Belgium
|
1,860,869 | 1,157,068 (2021) | 1,406,000 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 1,132,975 (2021) | 1,404,000 |
| 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 |
| Helsinki Metropolitan Area |  Finland
|
1,439,175 | 1,551,959 (2022) | 1,285,000 |
| Istanbul |  Turkey
|
14,693,269 | 11,044,642 (2004) | — |
| Katowice metropolitan area | Poland
|
2,843,725 | 2,417,386 (2021) | 3,029,000 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 1,230,313 (2022) | 775,000 |
| 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 |
| Marseille | France
|
1,322,989 | 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 |
| 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 |
| Nantes | France
|
946,441 | 1,022,775 (2020) | 708,000 |
| Naples metropolitan area | Italy
|
4,095,364 | 3,303,711 (2022) | 2,905,000 |
| 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 (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 | 695,244 (2022) | 1,046,000 |
| 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 |
| Portsmouth-Southampton | United Kingdom
|
1,390,006 | 1,230,011 (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 (Düsseldorf - Neuss) | Germany
|
2,557,228 | 2,247,629 (2021) | 3,073,000 |
| Rhein-Süd (Cologne - Bonn) | Germany
|
3,354,797 | 3,005,728 (2021) | 3,070,000 |
| 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 | 1,902,704 (2022) | 1,904,000 |
| Ruhr | Germany
|
6,108,500 | 5,068,912 (2021) | 5,376,000 |
| Saarbrücken - Forbach | Germany/ France
|
582,231 | 522,983 (2021) | 1,102,000 |
| Saint Petersburg metropolitan area | Russia
|
5,518,560 | — | — |
| Samara | Russia
|
1,307,406 | — | — |
| Saratov | Russia
|
1,097,493 | — | — |
| Seville metropolitan area | Spain
|
1,299,106 | 1,556,975 (2021) | 1,180,000 |
| 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 |  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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |  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 |
Polycentric metropolitan areas in the European Union
| Rank | Area | State | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
See also
- List of European cities by population within city limits
- List of urban areas in Europe
- List of European city regions
- Lists of cities in Europe
- List of largest cities in the European Union by population within city limits
- List of urban areas in the European Union
- List of European Union cities proper by population density
- List of metropolitan areas by population for the world
- World's largest cities
Regional and country-specific lists
- Largest metropolitan areas in the Nordic countries
- List of metropolitan areas in Belgium
- List of metropolitan areas in France
- List of metropolitan areas in Germany
- List of metropolitan areas in Italy
- List of metropolitan areas in Poland
- List of metropolitan areas in Romania
- List of metropolitan areas in Spain
- List of metropolitan areas in Sweden
- List of metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom
Notes
- ^ Part of the Randstad polycentric urban region consisting of the metropolitan areas of Amsterdam (2,497,000), Rotterdam (1,904,000), The Hague (1,404,000), and Utrecht (982,000). The total population of the region is 6,787,000.
- ^ The Flemish Diamond metropolitan region, which consists of the metropolitan areas of Brussels, Antwerp, Gent, and Leuven, has a total population of 5,103,000.
- Total population is 4,251,000 if the metropolitan area of Mataro (169,000) is included.
- Part of the wider Öresund region, which includes the Danish metropolitan area of Copenhagen (1,881,000) and the Swedish metropolitan areas of Malmö (667,000) and Helsingborg (294,000). The total regional population is 2,842,000.
- Part of the Rhein-Main metropolitan region with a total population of 4,149,000, which additionally includes the metropolitan areas of Darmstadt (501,000), Wiesbaden (453,000), and Mainz (431,000).
- ^ Combined total population of Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area.
- Estmation.
- 65% of the population lives on the European part
- ^ Part of the polycentric Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area with a total population of 5,294,000. The region includes the metropolitan areas of Katowice (3,029,000) Ostrava (1,046,000), Bielsko-Biała (584,000), Rybnik (526,000) and Racibórz (109,000).
- Part of the wider Lille-Bassin Minier region with a total population of 3,115,000.
- Lists Málaga (1,048,764) and Marbella (239,929) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- Lists Málaga (887,146) and Marbella (343,167) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- Total population is 844,000 if the metropolitan area of Vélez-Málaga (69,000) is included.
- Lists Mannheim (683,000) and Ludwigshafen (453,000) as two of eight FUAs within the Rhein-Neckar poly-FUA (2,931,000).
- Does not include Aix-en-Provence, which OECD, unlike INSEE, considers as a separate metropolitan area, with a population of 243,615 in 2020.
- Part of a wider Milan polycentric metropolitan area with a total population of 6,011,000.
- Total population is 3,271,000 if the metropolitan area of Augsburg (606,000) is included.
- Part of a wider polycentric metropolitan area with a population of 3,714,000.
- Lists Nottingham (919,484) and Derby (486,831) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- Lists Ostrava (539,358) and Havířov (211,775) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- Part of a wider polycentric urban region with a population of 1,778,000.
- Lists Portsmouth (542,040) and Southampton (687,971) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- ^ Polycentric metropolitan area
- Lists Düsseldorf (1,087,466), Wuppertal (872,475), and Mönchengladbach (597,287) as three separate metropolitan areas.
- Lists Düsseldorf (1,464,904), Wuppertal (383,594), and Mönchengladbach (399,131) as three separate metropolitan areas.
- Includes Duisburg metropolitan area of Ruhr.
- ^ Part of the polycentric urban region of Rhein-Ruhr, which has a total population of 12,190,000.
- Lists Cologne (2,215,509) and Bonn (790,219) as two separate metropolitan areas.
- Does not include Duisburg metropolitan area.
- ^ Does not include the French part.
- Total population is 1,262,000 if the metropolitan area of Utrera (82,000) is included.
- ^ Continental placement may vary depending on geographic convention being followed.
- Total population is 1,716,000 if the metropolitan area of Pinerolo (115,000) is included.
- Total population is 1,499,000 if the metropolitan area of Sagunto (101,000) is included.
References
- "Urbanismi, Cluster urbani e aree metropolitane – volume primo, Italia" (PDF) (in Italian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- "Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2019" (PDF).(in Ukrainian)
- Lewis Dijkstra, Hugo Poelman (2012-03-01). Cities in Europe - The new OECD-EC definition (PDF) (Report). p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
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.
- "Territorial typologies manual - cities, commuting zones and functional urban areas". Eurostat.
Within the Urban Audit, (...) functional urban areas were previously referred to as 'larger urban zones'.
- "OECD: FUAs and Cities". OECD. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- "Database". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 16 Jun 2024. Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - functional urban areas (urb_lpop1)
- "Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)]" (PDF). European Spatial Planning Observation Network. March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015., Final Report, Chapter 3
- European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3) Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007) page 241-243
External links
- Geopolis: research group, university of Paris-Diderot, France - Population of urban areas of 10,000 or more
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| City proper | |
| Metropolitan area | |
| Urban area/agglomeration | |
| Historical | |
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