Skip to content
World Measure
The population almanac240 countries · 31,365 cities · UN WPP 2024
City profile · Netherlands · Europe

Rotterdam

South Holland · Netherlands
City population
868,135
#1
in Netherlands
#1
in South Holland
#641
worldwide
AmsterdamRotterdam
51.922, 4.479 · 57 km from Amsterdam
City population
868,135
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in Netherlands
#1
of 232 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#641
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of Netherlands
4.8%
of the national population

About Rotterdam

Ranked 641st by city population globally, Rotterdam holds 868,135 residents and accounts for 4.8% of the Netherlands' population—the largest city in the country. It lies 57 km from Amsterdam and sits at 9 m elevation in South Holland, where it is the most populous of 50 listed municipalities. Four cities with populations between 16,000 and 75,000 lie within 8 km.

This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.

Position in Netherlands
#1of 232
LargestSmallest
Position in South Holland
#1of 50
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Netherlands
Region
South Holland
Rank in region
#1of 50
Distance to capital
57 km
to Amsterdam
Elevation
9 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Europe/Amsterdam
Coordinates
51.922, 4.479
Record updated
2025-10-26
Entry edited, not measured

City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured. Elevation is modelled from a digital elevation model rather than surveyed, so it is approximate.

Nearby Cities

All 232 in Netherlands

Closest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.

6KMSchiedam75K people7KMCapelle aan den IJssel65K people9KMVlaardingen74K people

Compared with the World's Largest Cities

City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.

  1. Shanghai24.9M
  2. Beijing19M
  3. Shenzhen17.5M
  4. Guangzhou16.1M
  5. Kinshasa16M
  6. Istanbul15.7M
  7. Lagos15.4M
  8. Ho Chi Minh City14M
  9. Chengdu13.6M
  10. Lahore13M
  11. Mumbai12.7M
  12. São Paulo12.4M
  13. Mexico City12.3M
  14. Karachi11.6M
  15. Tianjin11.1M
  16. Rotterdam868K
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Rotterdam compared with the fifteen largest cities
NameCity population
Shanghai24.9M
Beijing19M
Shenzhen17.5M
Guangzhou16.1M
Kinshasa16M
Istanbul15.7M
Lagos15.4M
Ho Chi Minh City14M
Chengdu13.6M
Lahore13M
Mumbai12.7M
São Paulo12.4M
Mexico City12.3M
Karachi11.6M
Tianjin11.1M
Rotterdam868K

Rotterdam Population FAQ

What is the population of Rotterdam?

Rotterdam has a city population of 868,135. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Rotterdam?

Rotterdam is in South Holland, Netherlands, 57 km from the capital, Amsterdam. Its coordinates are 51.922, 4.479.

How big is Rotterdam compared with other cities in Netherlands?

It is the 1st largest of the 232 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Netherlands, holding 4.8% of the national population.

Explore

NetherlandsAll 232 citiesSouth Holland50 cities in the regionCountry profileNetherlands population & indicators