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Bilbao, 
Spain
741,795 people lived in Bilbao in 2025. It is the 721st largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 4th largest in Spain.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Bilbao governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Bilbao grew
Where Bilbao had 10 people in 1975, it had 8.2 in 2025, fewer than it started with.
On the UN's projection it will have 661,007 people in 2050.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Bilbao through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Bilbao in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Spain · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Spain and its 84 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Madrid). Bilbao is ringed, in colour; the other cities are grey. Neighbouring countries are outlines.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Bilbao covered 93 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 19 km² of it. That is 26 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 5 by 5 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown by 29%, and its people have fallen by 18%.
How to read this: the outer pale square stands for all the land the city covers, and the solid square inside it for the part with buildings, roads and the like on it. All three squares share a scale, so you can compare them by eye. A hatched one is a year the UN has projected.
Of every 100 people in Spain
Its share of Spain
Of every 100 people in Spain in 2025, 2 lived in Bilbao, which is 741,795 people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Spain, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Bilbao's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 717 Dortmund Germany748,106
- 718 Yichun China745,754
- 719 Damietta Egypt743,111
- 720 La Plata Argentina742,952
- 721 Bilbao741,795
- 722 Zinder Niger740,218
- 723 Şanlıurfa Türkiye739,807
- 724 Bhavnagar India739,115
- 725 Dandong China738,721
In Spain, 2025
- 72 Madrid5,583,601
- 114 Barcelona3,982,704
- 366 Valencia1,390,045
- 721 Bilbao741,795
- 769 Seville699,504
- 934 Zaragoza585,533
- 1057 Málaga521,854
- 1173 Palma de Mallorca473,499
- 1428 Alicante397,948
How to read this: names are in order of size, the leading number being each city's rank among all 12,138 in 2025; the bars share a scale within a list. A jump in the ranks means a city under 300,000 people, which is not given a page here.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Bilbao are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Bilbao publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries