Bhopal's 2026 population is now estimated at 2,748,760. In 1950, the population of Bhopal was 100,258. Bhopal has grown by 62,470 in the last year, which represents a 2.33% annual change. These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects. These estimates represent the Urban agglomeration of Bhopal, which typically includes Bhopal's population in addition to adjacent suburban areas.
Bhopal is a city located in India. It is the capital of Madhya Pradesh and was at one time the capital of the Bhopal State. This city has a population of 1,798,218 people as of 2011. While that seems like a significant number, it is only the 17th most populous in the country.
Breaking this down further, the total area of the city is 110.38 square miles, which means Bhopal has a population density of around 10,070 residents per square mile. The metropolitan area is slightly larger, with a population of just over 1.9 million people.
“The City of Lakes” - as it is sometimes known - has a higher population of males than females, with over 936,000 male residents and just over 862,000 female residents.
These unbalanced numbers also apply to literacy. The overall literacy rate of the population exceeds 83%. Broken down by gender, the literacy rate of males is over 87%, while it falls just below 80% for females.
There are a large number of Hindus and Muslims living in Bhopal. These religious groups comprise over 95% of the total population.
The population growth rate in recent years has been in the double digits as more people move from nearby areas including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for job opportunities. This steady rate of growth is expected to continue as more people move to a city known for being one of the greenest in the country.
| City | 2026 Pop. ↓ | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 35,518,400 | 2.46% |
| Mumbai | 22,539,300 | 2.04% |
| Kolkata | 16,151,400 | 1.93% |
| Bangalore | 14,771,700 | 2.61% |
| Chennai | 12,623,100 | 2.33% |
| Hyderabad | 11,608,400 | 2.39% |
| Ahmedabad | 9,272,670 | 2.33% |
| Surat | 8,820,660 | 2.78% |
| Pune | 7,706,270 | 2.4% |
| Kozhikode | 4,520,410 | 3.03% |
| Jaipur | 4,514,920 | 2.35% |
| Malappuram | 4,487,920 | 3.31% |
| Lucknow | 4,228,750 | 2.33% |
| Indore | 3,570,830 | 2.53% |
| Kanpur | 3,410,920 | 1.96% |
| Nagpur | 3,237,750 | 2.13% |
| Coimbatore | 3,234,160 | 2.39% |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 3,156,950 | 2.75% |
| Patna | 2,748,390 | 2.19% |
| Agra | 2,535,490 | 2.31% |
| Kannur | 2,524,680 | 2.42% |
| Visakhapatnam | 2,496,820 | 2.31% |
| Vadodara | 2,478,540 | 2.21% |
| Vijayawada | 2,409,770 | 2.51% |
| Nashik | 2,408,010 | 2.42% |
| Kollam | 2,317,980 | 2.92% |
| Rajkot | 2,203,310 | 2.46% |
| Ludhiana | 2,071,490 | 2.11% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Raipur | 1,974,130 | 2.63% |
| Madurai | 1,953,270 | 2.18% |
| Meerut | 1,916,080 | 2.2% |
| Varanasi | 1,865,080 | 2.14% |
| Tiruppur | 1,833,070 | 2.77% |
| Srinagar | 1,818,570 | 2.3% |
| Srinagar | 1,818,570 | 2.3% |
| Aurangabad | 1,809,600 | 2.39% |
| Aurangabad | 1,809,600 | 2.39% |
| Jamshedpur | 1,806,600 | 2.2% |
| Jodhpur | 1,703,860 | 2.37% |
| Jodhpur | 1,703,860 | 2.37% |
| Ranchi | 1,659,720 | 2.34% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Kota | 1,639,630 | 2.52% |
| Jabalpur | 1,615,460 | 2.1% |
| Asansol | 1,598,450 | 2.12% |
| Gwalior | 1,578,940 | 2.3% |
| Allahabad | 1,555,900 | 2.11% |
| Amritsar | 1,543,480 | 2.14% |
| Dhanbad | 1,471,280 | 2.04% |
| Bareilly | 1,446,270 | 2.34% |
| Aligarh | 1,413,060 | 2.43% |
| Moradabad | 1,403,580 | 2.46% |
| Mysore | 1,375,940 | 2.25% |
| Tiruchirappalli | 1,296,500 | 2.1% |
| Chandigarh | 1,293,580 | 2.18% |
| Saharanpur | 1,275,830 | 2.68% |
| Guwahati | 1,250,320 | 2.14% |
| Salem | 1,247,700 | 2.21% |
| Jalandhar | 1,193,480 | 2.22% |
| Solapur | 1,130,210 | 1.99% |
| Warangal | 1,105,740 | 2.34% |
| Guntur | 984,920 | 2.34% |
| Firozabad | 965,089 | 2.48% |
| Bhiwandi | 964,215 | 2.15% |
| Puducherry | 962,874 | 2.33% |
| Cherthala | 958,336 | 2.94% |
| Kottayam | 914,278 | 3.26% |
| Nellore | 879,934 | 2.46% |
| Bikaner | 872,688 | 2.2% |
| Muzaffarnagar | 858,867 | 2.61% |
| Amravati | 842,613 | 2.14% |
| Gorakhpur | 832,937 | 2% |
| Gorakhpur | 832,937 | 2% |
| Cuttack | 821,467 | 2.06% |
| Tirupati | 818,428 | 2.65% |
| Malegaon | 817,947 | 2.28% |
| Belgaum | 817,205 | 2.19% |
| Mangalore | 795,066 | 2.1% |
| Kurnool | 784,461 | 2.5% |
| Bhavnagar | 783,199 | 2.13% |
| Gulbarga | 768,923 | 2.28% |
| Jammu | 766,223 | 1.96% |
| Durgapur | 756,574 | 2.14% |
| Durgapur | 756,574 | 2.14% |
| Jhansi | 722,089 | 2.16% |
| Erode | 721,376 | 2.24% |
| Jamnagar | 704,603 | 1.97% |
| Patiala | 701,719 | 2.45% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Bilaspur | 698,982 | 2.42% |
| Raurkela | 690,942 | 2.07% |
| Agartala | 687,817 | 2.6% |
| Ujjain | 682,864 | 2.17% |
| Kolhapur | 682,552 | 2.02% |
| Mathura | 680,262 | 2.36% |
| Imphal | 679,030 | 2.5% |
| Ajmer | 678,309 | 2.05% |
| Hosur | 668,932 | 3.48% |
| Sangli | 649,082 | 2.09% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Udaipur | 643,855 | 2.21% |
| Jalgaon | 642,970 | 2.25% |
| Jalgaon | 642,970 | 2.25% |
| Vellore | 639,404 | 2.16% |
| Gaya | 637,382 | 2.19% |
| Tirunelveli | 629,329 | 2.09% |
| Panipat | 625,020 | 2.27% |
| Rajahmundry | 605,469 | 2.1% |
| Begusarai | 605,096 | 3.16% |
| Bellary | 599,562 | 2.33% |
| Purnia | 581,955 | 2.73% |
| Muzaffarpur | 580,553 | 2.33% |
| Kakinada | 575,776 | 2.14% |
| Latur | 549,439 | 2.3% |
| Bhagalpur | 536,667 | 2.14% |
| Rohtak | 534,040 | 2.29% |
| Shillong | 532,490 | 2.37% |
| Raniganj | 523,490 | 3.07% |
| Anantapur | 522,676 | 2.41% |
| Bhilwara | 519,048 | 2.31% |
| Yamunanagar | 506,441 | 2.16% |
| Alwar | 492,649 | 2.31% |
| Sagar | 492,371 | 2.17% |
| Dhulian | 490,720 | 2.9% |
| Akola | 490,505 | 1.94% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Rampur | 484,287 | 2.24% |
| Gandhidham | 478,879 | 2.79% |
| Ottappalam | 478,032 | 2.86% |
| Baharampur | 476,182 | 2.44% |
| Bijapur | 475,590 | 2.32% |
| Karnal | 470,104 | 2.43% |
| Barddhaman | 468,105 | 2.2% |
| Korba | 465,712 | 2.1% |
| Karimnagar | 461,530 | 2.43% |
| Brahmapur | 455,415 | 2.11% |
| Junagadh | 454,309 | 2.28% |
| Dindigul | 449,246 | 2.41% |
| Ahmadnagar | 440,670 | 1.95% |
| Anand | 429,770 | 2.36% |
| Bihar Sharif | 428,280 | 2.31% |
| Roorkee | 426,951 | 2.67% |
| Bathinda | 425,092 | 2.36% |
| Aizawl | 424,478 | 2.31% |
| Shimoga | 419,532 | 2.14% |
| Karur | 416,661 | 2.66% |
| Tumkur | 408,050 | 2.2% |
| Ichalkaranji | 407,139 | 2.07% |
| Dewas | 405,021 | 2.26% |
| Parbhani | 402,845 | 2.15% |
| Hisar | 395,351 | 2.12% |
| Khammam | 391,864 | 2.37% |
| Haldwani | 391,478 | 2.57% |
| Darbhanga | 390,728 | 2.1% |
| Habra | 390,202 | 2.14% |
| Satna | 389,835 | 2.23% |
| Farrukhabad | 387,804 | 2.17% |
| Jalna | 384,665 | 2.2% |
| Arrah | 378,233 | 2.31% |
| Hapur | 364,613 | 2.24% |
| Nizamabad | 364,301 | 1.96% |
| Nizamabad | 364,301 | 1.96% |
| Kharagpur | 358,954 | 2% |
| Kharagpur | 358,954 | 2% |
| Ratlam | 353,657 | 2.13% |
| New Delhi | 257,803 | 0.98% |
