The Russian capital Moscow, with over 17 million inhabitants in its urban area (and just under 12 and a half in the city limits), is the largest European city.In second place we have Istanbul, whose eastern part is however located in Asia, with about 35% of the inhabitants living on this continent; it has quite rapid growth rates, in fact in 2000 it counted 8 million people.
Paris and London are the other two European cities to overcome the barrier of ten million inhabitants and together with Bangkok the most visited in the world.
With 12 and 7 cities in this ranking, Russia and Germany are respectively the most represented countries, on the other hand they are also those with the most inhabitants (even considering only the European part of Russia).
| City | Urban aggl. | Population | Urban area | Country | Other cities in urban area |
| Moscow | 17,878,000 | 13,010,000 | 6,643 Km² | Russia | Balashikha, Podolsk, Khimki |
| Istanbul | 15,306,000 | 15,306,000 | 1,471 Km² | Turkey | |
| Paris | 11,108,000 | 2,088,000 | 2,854 Km² | France | Boulogne-Billancourt, Saint-Denis |
| London | 10,803,000 | 8,777,000 | 1,738 Km² | United Kingdom | Watford, Woking |
| Madrid | 6,798,000 | 3,340,000 | 1,365 Km² | Spain | Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, Fuenlabrada |
| Düsseldorf | 6,769,000 | 611,000 | 2,683 Km² | Germany | Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg |
| Saint Petersburg | 5,750,000 | 5,602,000 | 1,510 Km² | Russia | |
| Milan | 5,471,000 | 1,372,000 | 2,225 Km² | Italy | Monza |
| Barcelona | 5,317,000 | 1,656,000 | 1,072 Km² | Spain | L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Terrassa, Sabadell |
| Berlin | 4,286,000 | 3,597,000 | 1,368 Km² | Germany | |
| Naples | 3,653,000 | 912,000 | 1,031 Km² | Italy | Giugliano in Campania |
| Athens | 3,309,000 | 643,000 | 583 Km² | Greece | Piraeus, Peristeri |
| Rome | 3,239,000 | 2,755,000 | 1,145 Km² | Italy | |
| Rotterdam | 3,027,000 | 671,000 | 1,015 Km² | Netherlands | The Hague |
| Kiev | 3,001,000 | 3,001,000 | 761 Km² | Ukraine | |
| Lisbon | 2,832,000 | 567,000 | 951 Km² | Portugal | Amadora |
| Birmingham | 2,517,000 | 1,121,000 | 598 Km² | United Kingdom | Wolverhampton, Solihull |
| Manchester | 2,449,000 | 470,000 | 632 Km² | United Kingdom | Bolton, Sale |
| Budapest | 2,407,000 | 1,686,000 | 997 Km² | Hungary | Erd |
| Brussels | 2,238,000 | 197,000 | 870 Km² | Belgium | Schaerbeek, Anderlecht |
| Cologne | 2,218,000 | 1,017,000 | 780 Km² | Germany | Bonn, Leverkusen |
| Stockholm | 2,200,000 | 989,000 | 847 Km² | Sweden | |
| Hamburg | 2,189,000 | 1,809,000 | 795 Km² | Germany | |
| Minsk | 2,126,000 | 1,993,000 | 433 Km² | Belarus | |
| Munich | 2,112,000 | 1,479,000 | 482 Km² | Germany | |
| Bucharest | 2,097,000 | 1,725,000 | 412 Km² | Romania | |
| Frankfurt | 2,055,000 | 743,000 | 660 Km² | Germany | Offenbach |
| Warsaw | 2,028,000 | 1,862,000 | 546 Km² | Poland | Pruszków |
| Vienna | 2,015,000 | 2,015,000 | 337 Km² | Austria | |
| Katowice | 1,903,000 | 279,000 | 728 Km² | Poland | Sosnowiec, Gliwice, Zabrze, Bytom |
| Amsterdam | 1,736,000 | 931,000 | 487 Km² | Netherlands | Zaanstad |
| Leeds | 1,659,000 | 536,000 | 487 Km² | United Kingdom | Bradford, Huddersfield |
| Copenhagen | 1,650,000 | 662,000 | 565 Km² | Denmark | |
| Nizhniy Novgorod | 1,635,000 | 1,226,000 | 857 Km² | Russia | |
| Valencia | 1,547,000 | 804,000 | 394 Km² | Spain | Torrent |
| Turin | 1,492,000 | 847,000 | 381 Km² | Italy | |
| Kharkiv | 1,484,000 | 1,434,000 | 394 Km² | Ukraine | |
| Lyon | 1,424,000 | 522,000 | 461 Km² | France | Villeurbanne |
| Marseille | 1,406,000 | 873,000 | 689 Km² | France | Aix-en-Provence |
| Stuttgart | 1,397,000 | 610,000 | 477 Km² | Germany | |
| Dublin | 1,386,000 | 593,000 | 461 Km² | Ireland | |
| Prague | 1,385,000 | 1,385,000 | 308 Km² | Czech Republic | |
| Donetsk | 1,378,000 | 905,000 | 684 Km² | Ukraine | |
| Porto | 1,364,000 | 249,000 | 795 Km² | Portugal | Vila Nova de Gaia |
| Belgrade | 1,355,000 | 1,197,000 | 254 Km² | Serbia | |
| Volgograd | 1,324,000 | 1,028,000 | 702 Km² | Russia | |
| Lille | 1,315,000 | 237,000 | 528 Km² | France | Roubaix, Tourcoing |
| Kazan | 1,309,000 | 1,309,000 | 448 Km² | Russia | |
| Rostov-on-Don | 1,264,000 | 1,142,000 | 381 Km² | Russia | |
| Dnipro | 1,220,000 | 981,000 | 803 Km² | Ukraine | |
| Sofia | 1,197,000 | 1,197,000 | 207 Km² | Bulgaria | |
| Samara | 1,173,000 | 1,173,000 | 246 Km² | Russia | |
| Helsinki | 1,146,000 | 678,000 | 515 Km² | Finland | Espoo, Vantaa |
| Ufa | 1,145,000 | 1,145,000 | 347 Km² | Russia | |
| Odessa | 1,142,000 | 1,016,000 | 370 Km² | Ukraine | |
| Seville | 1,138,000 | 684,000 | 272 Km² | Spain | Dos Hermanas |
| Glasgow | 1,100,000 | 632,000 | 357 Km² | United Kingdom | Paisley |
| Krasnodar | 1,099,000 | 1,099,000 | 337 Km² | Russia | |
| Saratov | 1,083,000 | 901,000 | 546 Km² | Russia | |
| Antwerp | 1,070,000 | 545,000 | 666 Km² | Belgium | |
| Voronezh | 1,069,000 | 1,069,000 | 603 Km² | Russia | |
| Perm | 1,034,000 | 1,034,000 | 319 Km² | Russia | |
| Oslo | 1,007,000 | 720,000 | 324 Km² | Norway | Bærum |
* data on urban agglomerations updated to 2023 (estimates), those on population according to official data or more recent estimates of the national statistical services, when different from urban agglomerations.