Topics
Málaga, 
Spain
521,854 people lived in Málaga in 2025. It is the 1057th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 7th largest in Spain.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Málaga 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 Málaga grew
For every 10 people in Málaga in 1975, there were 13.8 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 492,100 people in 2050.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: one column every five years, 1975 to 2050; its height is the number of people. Hatched columns are the UN's projection. The thin strip beneath says how sure the UN is of each figure: the stronger the colour, the surer. A blank means the place was not on the UN's list of cities that year.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Málaga through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Málaga 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). Málaga 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, Málaga covered 74 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 18 km² of it. That is 35 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown by 68%, and its people have grown by 38%.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in Spain
Its share of Spain
Of every 100 people in Spain in 2025, 1 lived in Málaga, which is 521,854 people.
How to read this: 100 squares, one for every 100th person in Spain; the coloured squares live in Málaga. The grey rest live in other cities, in towns or in the countryside.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1053 Rohtak India526,540
- 1054 Astrakhan Russia524,085
- 1055 Jember Indonesia522,844
- 1056 Masetjhaba View South Africa522,402
- 1057 Málaga521,854
- 1058 Edinburgh United Kingdom521,784
- 1059 Thiès Senegal521,678
- 1060 Shabqadar Pakistan521,259
- 1061 Shahkot Pakistan520,664
In Spain, 2025
- 366 Valencia1,390,045
- 721 Bilbao741,795
- 769 Seville699,504
- 934 Zaragoza585,533
- 1057 Málaga521,854
- 1173 Palma de Mallorca473,499
- 1428 Alicante397,948
- 1489 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria381,670
- 1558 Granada367,226
How to read this: the figure in front of a name is where that city stands among the 12,138 cities the UN counted in 2025, and each bar is its people, on one scale per list. Numbers are missing where a city has fewer than 300,000 people and so has no page of its own.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Málaga 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 Málaga 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