The use of facial recognition and movement tracking is the part that is really sinister. It’s much worse than the Flock ALPR cameras that log your license plate when you drive by them, and they are tracking you personally with facial recognition which is an extreme violation of privacy. It’s really heading towards a Minority Report future.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-most-surveilled-cities-by-camera-density/
By Dorothy Neufeld, Design Miranda Smith
Key Takeaways
- Indian cities dominate the rankings, with Hyderabad (79 cameras per 1,000 people) leading globally.
- Eight of the top 10 cities are Asian. The other two most surveilled cities are in Russia.
- China has 700 million cameras (494 per 1,000 people), though per-city data is unavailable.
Surveillance is becoming a defining feature of modern cities, but the level of monitoring varies significantly from one urban center to the next.
In Los Angeles, the number of cameras exceeds 46,000. Hyderabad, India has around 900,000. This visualization ranks major global cities by the number of CCTV cameras per 1,000 people using data from Comparitech, showing where surveillance is most concentrated.
As governments and municipalities expand surveillance for security and smart city initiatives, these rankings offer a snapshot of where camera density—and public surveillance—is highest today.
Cities With the Most Cameras Per Capita
At the top of the list, Hyderabad, India leads globally with 79 cameras per 1,000 people, followed by Indore (72) and Bangalore (41). Collectively, they hold over 1.7 million cameras.
It’s worth noting that data for specific cities in China is unavailable owing to government secrecy. However, it’s estimated to have 494 cameras per capita, or nearly one camera for every two people.
The table below shows the number of CCTV cameras per capita, highlighting the scale of public surveillance around the world.
| Rank | City | Country | Cameras Per 1,000 People | Number of CCTV Cameras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hyderabad | 🇮🇳 India | 79 | 900,000 |
| 2 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | 72 | 251,500 |
| 3 | Bangalore | 🇮🇳 India | 41 | 585,300 |
| 4 | Lahore | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 28 | 410,300 |
| 5 | Seoul | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 24 | 243,400 |
| 6 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | 20 | 250,000 |
| 7 | Kabul | 🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 18 | 90,000 |
| 8 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 18 | 113,000 |
| 9 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | 18 | 102,000 |
| 10 | Baghdad | 🇮🇶 Iraq | 15 | 120,000 |
| 11 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 13 | 131,900 |
| 12 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | 12 | 46,800 |
| 13 | Busan | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 12 | 42,800 |
| 14 | Istanbul | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 11 | 179,000 |
| 15 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | 10 | 80,300 |
| 16 | Delhi | 🇮🇳 India | 9 | 313,300 |
| 17 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | 9 | 106,600 |
| 18 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 8 | 79,100 |
| 19 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 7 | 24,900 |
| 20 | Bangkok | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 7 | 81,100 |
| 21 | Pune | 🇮🇳 India | 7 | 52,100 |
| 22 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | 7 | 24,000 |
| 23 | Lucknow | 🇮🇳 India | 7 | 27,200 |
| 24 | Hong Kong | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 6 | 48,000 |
| 25 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 6 | 136,900 |
| 26 | New Taipei | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 6 | 27,200 |
| 27 | Ankara | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 6 | 31,400 |
| 28 | Rome | 🇮🇹 Italy | 5 | 22,500 |
| 29 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia | 5 | 26,200 |
Pakistan’s capital, Lahore, ranks fourth globally at 28 cameras per 1,000 people. With 410,300 cameras in total, facial recognition is often linked to national databases in real time.
Moscow, Russia ranks in sixth globally, with 20 cameras per capita. As one of the most pervasive surveillance systems worldwide, Moscow is blanketed in 250,000 cameras, which use facial recognition to identify protestors, journalists, and dissidents.
Across the West, London is the most highly surveilled cities, ranking in 11th overall. Following next in line is Los Angeles, with the number of cameras increasing by roughly 34% since 2022.
The Rise of Surveillance Infrastructure
Beyond Los Angeles, several cities have mirrored this expansion of surveillance systems in public spaces.
Notably, the number of cameras jumped 104% in Hyderabad, 17% in Moscow, and 3.6% in London since 2022. At the same time, these systems are increasingly using machine learning algorithms to identify patterns, automate profiles, and detect “suspicious activity”.
Not only do vast networks of cameras allow government authorities to detect traffic or parking violations, they provide access to people’s movements, raising questions of privacy and data accumulation in an age of AI-powered monitoring.