This statistic shows the ten largest cities in France as of 2022. In 2022, around 2.11 million people lived in Paris, making it the largest city in France.

In 2025, Moscow was the largest city in Europe with an estimated urban agglomeration of 12.74 million people. The French capital, Paris, was the second largest city in 2025 at 11.35 million, followed by the capitals of the United Kingdom and Spain, with London at 9.84 million and Madrid at 6.81 million people. Istanbul, which would otherwise be the largest city in Europe in 2025, is excluded as it is only partially in Europe, with a sizeable part of its population living in Asia. Europe’s population is almost 750 million Since 1950, the population of Europe has increased by approximately 200 million people, increasing from 550 million to 750 million in these seventy years. Before the turn of the millennium, Europe was the second-most populated continent, before it was overtaken by Africa, which saw its population increase from 228 million in 1950 to 817 million by 2000. Asia has consistently had the largest population of the world’s continents and was estimated to have a population of 4.6 billion. Europe’s largest countries Including its territory in Asia, Russia is by far the largest country in the world, with a territory of around 17 million square kilometers, almost double that of the next largest country, Canada. Within Europe, Russia also has the continent's largest population at 145 million, followed by Germany at 83 million and the United Kingdom at almost 68 million. By contrast, Europe is also home to various micro-states such as San Marino, which has a population of just 30 thousand.

As of January 2025, there were slightly more than two million people living in the city of Paris. Considered to be the heart of France’s economic and political life, Paris is also part of the most populous region in the country. The Ile-de-France region, which can also be called the Paris area, with almost 12.5 million inhabitants, around six times the number of citizens living in the French capital. Being a Parisian Paris is the largest city in France, and as in a very centralized country, it is where the majority of big companies and all the national administrations are located. Therefore, it attracts a lot of people coming from all across the country to work and study in the French capital. The city has a lot to offer and people from Paris can enjoy a variety of cultural events like nowhere else in France. But if worldwide, Paris is known for its architecture and museums, the city also has disadvantages for Parisians. Thus, they spend sometimes more than one hour on public transport, and air pollution has become a rampant issue in the City of Lights these past years. An exceptionally dense region Paris area is one of the most densely populated regions in Europe. In 2020, there were 1,021.6 residents per square kilometer in Ile-de-France. The region also welcomes millions of tourists every year, which has a direct impact on the housing market in a city that does not have a lot of available space.

By 1800, London had grown to be the largest city in Western Europe with just under one million inhabitants. Paris was now the second largest city, with over half a million people, and Naples was the third largest city with 450 thousand people. The only other cities with over two hundred thousand inhabitants at this time were Vienna, Amsterdam and Dublin. Another noticeable development is the inclusion of many more northern cities from a wider variety of countries. The dominance of cities from France and Mediterranean countries was no longer the case, and the dispersal of European populations in 1800 was much closer to how it is today, more than two centuries later.

Paris was Western Europe's largest city in 1650, with an estimated 400 thousand inhabitants, which is almost double it's population 150 years previously. In second place is London, with 350 thousand inhabitants, however it has grown by a substantially higher rate than Paris during this time, now seven times larger than it was in the year 1500. Naples remains in the top three largest cities, growing from 125 to 300 thousand inhabitants during this time. In the previous list, the Italian cities of Milan and Venice were the only other cities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, however in this list they have been joined by the trading centers of Lisbon and Amsterdam, the capital cities of the emerging Portuguese and Dutch maritime empires.

The France office real estate market, currently valued at approximately €XX million (assuming a reasonable market size based on comparable European markets and the provided CAGR), is projected to experience steady growth, driven primarily by a robust economy, increasing urbanization, and a growing demand for modern, sustainable office spaces in key cities like Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. The market's 3.70% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2024 suggests a positive trajectory, expected to continue through 2033. Key trends include a shift towards flexible workspaces, a focus on energy efficiency and green building certifications, and increasing adoption of smart building technologies. While challenges such as economic fluctuations and potential regulatory changes exist, the strong presence of major players like Hermitage Group, RedMan, Hines, Kaufman & Broad SA, CBRE France, and BNP Paribas Real Estate indicates a resilient and competitive market. These established companies, along with significant activity from developers, contribute to the market's stability and ongoing development. The concentration of activity in major cities like Paris, Marseille, and Lyon underscores the importance of strategic location and the associated high demand for prime office space in these urban centers. The segmentation of the market into key cities (Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and others) reflects varying market dynamics. Paris, as the capital, commands the largest share, followed by Marseille and Lyon, which benefit from regional economic activity. The “other cities” segment likely exhibits slower growth than the major city markets, but still contributes significantly to the overall market value. The competitive landscape, with prominent national and international players, indicates a robust and sophisticated market characterized by considerable investment and ongoing development. The forecast period (2025-2033) presents opportunities for both established players and emerging companies to capitalize on the market's growth, particularly in areas focused on sustainability and technological advancements within office spaces. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of the France office real estate market, covering the historical period (2019-2024), base year (2025), and forecast period (2025-2033). It delves into market size, trends, key players, and future growth prospects, offering invaluable insights for investors, developers, and industry professionals. This report is crucial for understanding the dynamics of the French commercial real estate sector and making informed decisions in this dynamic market. Recent developments include: June 2022: Along with Paris-based specialist investor and asset management, Atlantic Real Estate, ICG Real Estate, ICG's real estate subsidiary, developed a new investing platform. The platform aids in purchasing or developing light industrial and last-mile logistics properties around Greater Paris and other significant French population centers. This platform is aiming to build a portfolio with a gross asset value of at least EUR 500 million ( USD 531 Million)., April 2022: Business Immo, France's top commercial real estate news service, has been acquired by CoStar Group Inc., a major provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the commercial and residential property markets. With the addition of Business Immo, their increasing global presence gains another premium asset.. Key drivers for this market are: Increasing geriatric population, Growing cases of chronic disease among senior citizens. Potential restraints include: High cost of elderly care services, Lack of skilled staff. Notable trends are: Paris city with highest rental growth trend per annum.

The city of Paris in France had an estimated gross domestic product of 757.6 billion Euros in 2021, the most of any European city. Paris was followed by the spanish capital, Madrid, which had a GDP of 237.5 billion Euros, and the Irish capital, Dublin at 230 billion Euros. Milan, in the prosperous north of Italy, had a GDP of 228.4 billion Euros, 65 billion euros larger than the Italian capital Rome, and was the largest non-capital city in terms of GDP in Europe. The engine of Europe Among European countries, Germany had by far the largest economy, with a gross domestic product of over 4.18 trillion Euros. The United Kingdom or France have been Europe's second largest economy since the 1980s, depending on the year, with forecasts suggesting France will overtake the UK going into the 2020s. Germany however, has been the biggest European economy for some time, with five cities (Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Frankfurt) among the 15 largest European cities by GDP. Europe's largest cities In 2023, Moscow was the largest european city, with a population of nearly 12.7 million. Paris was the largest city in western Europe, with a population of over 11 million, while London was Europe's third-largest city at 9.6 million inhabitants.

France is a transcontinental country spanning Western Europe and overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Including all of its territories, France has twelve time zones, the most of any country. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and several islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi). France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab

Urban population growth has been constant for several decades in France. Between 1960 and 2023, it rose from 61.88 percent to 81.78 percent. The phenomenon of urbanization was more significant in the 1960s. Indeed, over this period, the rate of the French population living in cities increased by 10 points. The evolution was more weighted over the next 50 years, rising from 71.06 percent in 1970 to 80.98 percent in 2020.An increase in urbanization was accompanied over the same period by a sharp rise in the overall French population, from 55.57 million inhabitants in 1982 to around 68 million in 2024. Paris, an urban giant in France Like in the United Kingdom, the French-style centralized system has led to a high concentration of population around economic, financial, cultural and political centers, all located in the British and French capitals. London and Paris (and its conurbation) are among the largest urban centers on the continent, with Moscow being the most populous. This centralization of power has led to a very heterogenous distribution of population density. The Paris region has a density of more than 1000 inhabitants per km², which is ten times higher than the Haut-de-France region, the second densest region in Metropolitan France.This centralization of power attracts a strong French and foreign workforce. The French capital is by far the most populated city in France. If solely the municipality of Paris is taken into account, it had more than 2 million inhabitants in 2019, which is more than twice as many as in Marseille and four times as many as in Lyon, the country's second and third most populous cities. Future challenges for French cities Access to employment is no longer the only reason to settle in a town. Other factors come into play in the life choices of city dwellers. In 2019, more than 90% of the French estimated that the presence of green areas was important to settle or not in a district. The pollution level of the city was also considered in the choice of the city. In order to address these pollution problems, municipalities must resolve transportation issues on their own territory. Previously the king of the town, the car is increasingly losing ground to public transport in urban areas. Cities like Paris are relying more on public transport. Between 2011 and 2016, RATP and SNCF have built more than 60 kilometers of tramway tracks . Moreover, the construction of additional train and metro lines in the Grand Paris project aimed at better connecting the suburbs to each other without passing through intramural Paris.Making it easier to travel by bicycle is one of the options chosen by many conurbations to relieve congestion in their cities. Since the early 2000s, self-service bicycles have been a great success in France with more than 2400 bicycles available in Toulouse or 4000 in Lyon in 2017. A source of much tension between motorists, municipalities and cyclists, the sharing of the road between 4 and 2 wheelers has, however, been widely developed. In Strasbourg, for example, the municipality had around 1.04 metres of cycle lanes per inhabitant in 2017, the highest rate in France. However, the layout of cycle paths can be perilous and a majority of cyclists in France still feel unsafe on the road.

It is estimated that the cities of Cordova (modern-day Córdoba) and Palermo were the largest cities in Europe in 1050, and had between fifteen and twenty times the population of most other entries in this graph, Despite this the cities of Cordova (the capital city of the Umayyad caliphate, who controlled much of the Iberian peninsula from the seventh to eleventh centuries), and Palermo (another Arab-controlled capital in Southern Europe) were still the only cities in Western Europe with a population over one hundred thousand people, closely followed by Seville. It is also noteworthy to point out that the five largest cities on this list were importing trading cities, in modern day Spain or Italy, although the largest cities become more northern and western European in later lists (1200, 1330, 1500, 1650 and 1800). In 1050, todays largest Western European cities, London and Paris, had just twenty-five and twenty thousand inhabitants respectively.

The period of European history (and much of world history) between 500 and 1500 is today known as the 'Dark Ages'. Although the term 'Dark Ages' was originally applied to the lack of literature and arts, it has since been applied to the lack or scarcity of recorded information from this time. Because of these limitations, much information about this time is still being debated today.

The French capital city of Paris concentrated around *** ophthalmologists in 2016, making it the city in France concentrating the highest number of these medical specialists. Furthermore, Marseille, in the south of France, had around *** ophthalmologists during that year.

The French capital city of Paris concentrated around *** cardiologists in 2017, making it the city in France concentrating the highest number of these medical specialists. Furthermore, Marseille, in the south of France, had around *** cardiologists during that year.

In France, in 2023, the French municipality with the highest number of municipal police officers was Paris, with more than ***** officers. France's capital city was followed by Marseille, located in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. The third city in terms of municipal police officers was Nice, with more than *** officers.

The fast-food industry tends to be particularly present in large French cities. Paris had the highest density of fast-food restaurants in France in 2021. In fact, 336 restaurants of leading fast-food chains were in operation in the French capital that year. The largest fast-food chain in the city was McDonald's in the same year.

Mcdonald's, the undisputed market leader in France

If Burger King made its return a few years ago on the French market and increasingly competes with McDonald's, the American giant of the fast-food remained unchallenged in 2020. Indeed, the brand generated the best revenue in the fast-food service industry and had the best coverage on the French territory.

Eating at fast-food restaurants in France

According to a survey conducted in 2019, if a majority of French people stated they enjoy eating at fast-food restaurants, most of them rarely go there. These consumers also affirmed going to those restaurants mainly because they would be quickly served. Furthermore, such establishments appeal to parents with young children under 18 years old and young people since a very large majority of 18-24-year-oldsfrequented fast-food establishments in 2019.

In 2020, the number of public transport trips in Paris and the Île-de-France region amounted to approximately *** billion journeys, from which around **** percent took place in the metro network. During the same year the passenger traffic in the public transport in the whole French territory reached **** billion passenger-kilometers. A wide public transport network Public transport in Paris is composed by a large network of metro stations, bus lines, suburban trains and tram services. These different means of transport make it possible to travel in the French capital but also within the large suburbs surrounding Paris. Thus, more than *** million people used the suburban trains called RER which connects Paris to the suburbs in 2020. The Île-de-France region, which contains Paris, is the most populated region in France. More than ** million people live in this region and a lot of them work in or around Paris. Almost ** percent of people living in the French capital use metro, buses or suburban trains to go to work, compared to **** percent of employees in Lyon, the third most populous city in France. A cheap and sustainable network In comparison with other cities worldwide, public transportation in Paris seems to be pretty cheap. The average cost for public transport in London was **** US dollars, whereas the average ticket in Berlin amounted to **** US dollars. When it comes to Paris, an average ticket in the French capital had a price of **** US dollars in 2018.

As of February 2025, Île-de-France, the region that includes Paris, recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in France. As of that month, hotels in that region offered a total of nearly 166,000 rooms. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur followed in the ranking, with over 85,000 and 74,000 hotel rooms, respectively.How many hotels are there in Paris? In 2024, the number of hotels in Paris exceeded 1,600. While three-star hotels accounted for the highest number of establishments that year, four-star hotels recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in Paris, with over 33,000 rooms. How many tourists visit Paris and Île-de-France? The City of Lights, as the French capital is nicknamed, is one of the most visited European destinations by international tourists and is also very popular among domestic travelers. In 2023, the total number of tourist arrivals to Paris and Île-de-France, including inbound and domestic visitors, reached almost 48 million, increasing over the previous year but remaining slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

As of 2023, the Ardennes department had around *** public electric vehicle charging points per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the French department with the highest ratio of public EV infrastructure. Paris, the capital city, had a ratio of *** public charging points per 100,000 inhabitants.

In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at ***** million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at **** million, Germany at **** million, the United Kingdom at **** million, and France at **** million. Europe is also home to some of the world’s smallest countries, such as the microstates of Liechtenstein and San Marino, with populations of ****** and ****** respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around *** trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at *** trillion and *** trillion euros respectively. Prior to the mid-2000s, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, Italy, had an economy that was of a similar sized to France and the UK, before diverging growth patterns saw the UK and France become far larger economies than Italy. Moscow and Istanbul the megacities of Europe Two cities on the eastern borders of Europe were Europe’s largest in 2023. The Turkish city of Istanbul, with a population of 15.8 million, and the Russian capital, Moscow, with a population of 12.7 million. Istanbul is arguably the world’s most famous transcontinental city with territory in both Europe and Asia and has been an important center for commerce and culture for over 2,000 years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of ** million, with London being the fourth largest at *** million.

In 2022, Paris was the French city with the most saturated traffic. There, drivers lost on average *** hours per year in traffic jams. Bordeaux and Lyon were second and third to the capital city, with drivers losing around ** and ** hours in traffic respectively.

In 2023, London was the leading European city tourism destination based on the number of bed nights. That year, bed nights in the United Kingdom's capital exceeded ** million, denoting a sharp annual increase but not fully recovering yet from the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Paris and Istanbul followed in the ranking in 2023, with roughly ** million and nearly ** million bed nights. What are the most visited countries in Europe? While the French capital came in second among leading European cities based on bed nights, France topped the ranking of the European countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals in 2023, ahead of Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Meanwhile, when looking at European countries with the highest tourism receipts that year, Spain recorded the highest figure, with over ** billion U.S. dollars, followed by the United Kingdom. How many international tourists visit Europe every year? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe grew significantly over the previous year, totaling over *** million. This figure, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, either before and after the impact of COVID-19, Europe was the region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide.