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Palermo, 
Italy
667,442 people lived in Palermo in 2025. It is the 812th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 5th largest in Italy.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Palermo 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 Palermo grew
Palermo had about as many people in 2025 as in 1975.
On the UN's projection it will have 571,427 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
Palermo through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Palermo in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Italy · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Italy and its 95 cities in 2025, each a dot whose area is its number of people (the largest is Naples). Palermo 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, Palermo covered 121 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 25 km² of it. That is 37 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown by 35%, and its people are about as many.
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 Italy
Its share of Italy
Of every 100 people in Italy in 2025, 1 lived in Palermo, which is 667,442 people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Italy, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Palermo's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 808 Jiamusi China673,406
- 809 Likasi Democratic Republic of the Congo673,034
- 810 Kudus Indonesia671,940
- 811 Veracruz Mexico668,350
- 812 Palermo667,442
- 813 Maradi Niger666,205
- 814 Changwon South Korea665,772
- 815 Fushun China665,286
- 816 Anand India664,789
In Italy, 2025
- 181 Naples2,767,923
- 194 Milan2,599,022
- 207 Rome2,376,474
- 447 Turin1,150,975
- 812 Palermo667,442
- 1042 Genoa532,509
- 1229 Catania453,376
- 1253 Bologna443,849
- 1298 Florence430,806
How to read this: the number before each name is its place among all 12,138 cities in the world in 2025; bars are people, on one scale per list. Only cities that reach 300,000 people have a page here, so a gap in the numbers is a smaller city.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Palermo 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 Palermo 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