Mexico City, Mexico Population

Population in Urban Area, now

22,037,922
  • World: 6th
  • North America: 1st
  • Mexico: 1st

Population in City Area, 2021-07-25

12,294,193
  • World: 9th
  • North America: 1st
  • Mexico: 1st

Mexico City Urban Area Population Graph

Mexico City Population Review

Welcome to Mexico City, the capital of Mexico and the most populated city in all of North America. In the past 70 years, Mexico City’s population has grown by leaps and bounds. The city’s population has increased by an incredible 544% since 1950! Now with 21 million people calling Greater Mexico City home, the city has easily become the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere.

The city has 16 municipalities that stretch across 1,485 square kilometers. The city is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and rests primarily on what used to Lake Texcoco. While the lake was drained in the 17th century and no water remains, the city continues to suffer sinking, runoff, and wastewater management issues due to the soft lakebed collapsing.

75% of the State of Mexico’s population lives in Mexico City

The State of Mexico (often abbreviated to Edomex from Estado de México) is one of the 32 federal entities that make up Mexico proper. It is also the state in which Mexico City is located. The state contains 14% of the country’s total population, 75% of which live in a municipality that’s part of Greater Mexico City. As of 2010, eight of Mexico City’s 16 municipalities had over 6 million people.

If that seems like a lot of people in a small amount of space, you’re not wrong. Mexico City’s population density is estimated to be 6,000 per square kilometer. Within the Greater Mexico City area the population is even denser, with 9,800 people per square kilometer.

Mexico City has the largest population of US citizens outside of the US

The number of foreigners living in Mexico City has grown by 95% in the last decade, most of which are from the United States. Mexico City has the biggest population of US-citizens living outside of the United States. There are an estimated 700,000 US Americans that currently call Mexico City home (and about one million UX immigrants throughout Mexico).

Wealthy for Mexico, struggling overall

Mexico has a robust economy and the 15th largest GDP in the world. However, about half of all Mexicans live in poverty—and nowhere is that more obvious than in Mexico City. A study in 2004 found that 11% of the urban population was extremely poor and 42% was moderately poor. Much of these issues can be traced back to Mexico City’s inability for its services and housing to keep up with the city’s growth.

Expanding slums

The ever-expanding city and its economic disparity have led to the rise of multiple ghettos and shanti towns. Squatter settlements and slums known as “lost cities” ciudades perdidas have begun to overtake parts of the city, including unused lots, green areas, and areas of dry lake beds. This is especially true in the city’s northweatern and eastern edges. Over the years, many of these slums have built themselves up into permanent areas, like the suburb of Nezahualcóyotl. Originally a small community of about 10,000 people in the 1950s, the suburb has since spread across the lakebed east of the Federal District to accommodate its ballooning population of some 4 million people. It is the largest slum in the city and residents of the slums account for about 10% of Mexico City’s population overall.

Mexican slums are also hotbeds for drug dealing and gang activity. This creates many opportunities for violence and homicides in Mexico City continue to rise, with almost 40,000 registered homicides in the city in 2016. Many homicides and violent crimes also go unreported for fear of revenge from organized criminals.

Review Updated: July 8, 2020
Mexico City LandscapeMexico City Landscape

Mexico City Urban Area Population History

1950 3,365,000
1951 3,533,000
1952 3,710,000
1953 3,895,000
1954 4,090,000
1955 4,294,000
1956 4,509,000
1957 4,734,000
1958 4,970,000
1959 5,218,000
1960 5,479,000
1961 5,749,000
1962 6,032,000
1963 6,330,000
1964 6,642,000
1965 6,969,000
1966 7,313,000
1967 7,673,000
1968 8,052,000
1969 8,448,000
1970 8,831,000
1971 9,182,000
1972 9,548,000
1973 9,928,000
1974 10,323,000
1975 10,734,000
1976 11,162,000
1977 11,605,000
1978 12,067,000
1979 12,547,000
1980 13,028,000
1981 13,268,000
1982 13,514,000
1983 13,764,000
1984 14,019,000
1985 14,278,000
1986 14,542,000
1987 14,812,000
1988 15,086,000
1989 15,365,000
1990 15,642,000
1991 15,908,000
1992 16,179,000
1993 16,453,000
1994 16,733,000
1995 17,017,000
1996 17,307,000
1997 17,601,000
1998 17,900,000
1999 18,204,000
2000 18,457,000
2001 18,618,000
2002 18,780,000
2003 18,944,000
2004 19,110,000
2005 19,276,000
2006 19,444,000
2007 19,614,000
2008 19,785,000
2009 19,958,000
2010 20,137,000
2011 20,372,000
2012 20,610,000
2013 20,850,000
2014 21,094,000
2015 21,340,000
2016 21,420,000
2017 21,500,000
2018 21,581,000
2019 21,672,000
2020 21,782,000
2021 21,919,000
2022 22,085,000
2023 22,281,000
2024 22,505,000

Mexico City Urban Area Population Projections

2025 22,752,000
2026 23,017,000
2027 23,291,000
2028 23,563,000
2029 23,837,000
2030 24,111,000
2031 24,381,000
2032 24,648,000
2033 24,909,000
2034 25,165,000
2035 25,415,000

Map of Mexico City, Mexico

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