The total population of France has been increasing for years now, exceeding 68 million inhabitants in 2025. However, like most Western nations, France is struggling with an aging population. Demographics in France For a few years, the population growth in France has been decreasing. However, unlike the majority of European countries, France appears to have a steady fertility rate of around 1.79 children per woman. This phenomenon allows France to be ranked as the most fertile country in Europe. But this cannot hide the fact that the population is getting older every year. An aging country The median age of French citizens has been increasing since the seventies. In 2050, the median age in France is expected to reach 43.5 years, compared to 35.2 years back in 1995. France has one of the highest life expectancies in Europe. Even though its birth rate seems pretty high compared to other European nations, this does not appear to be enough to slow down the growing trend of the French median age.

Prepared by ICPSR under a project to automate major portions of the Statistique Generale de la France, this is a collection of demographic, social, education, economic, population, and vital statistics data for France, 1833-1925. This conversion project is a continuation of one conducted in 1972, for which a similar data collection was created, SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND EDUCATIONAL DATA FOR FRANCE, 1801-1897 (ICPSR 0048). The project to collect and prepare these data was sponsored by two French and two American groups: ICPSR and the Center for Western European Studies at the University of Michigan, and the Fourth and Sixth Sections of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and Conseil National de la Recherches Scientifique in France. Both collections include data recorded at the departement, arrondissement, chef-lieu, and ville level. In this collection, materials from the vital statistics series were prepared for selected years rather than for each year in the period from 1900-1925. The years that were chosen clustered around the quinquennial censuses and also included (because of the violent demographic dislocations produced by World War I) each year in the 1914-1919 period. In addition, some vital statistics for the nineteenth century (1836-1850, 1880, and 1892) obtained from fugitive published volumes that could not be located during the course of the 1972 project were prepared. The 136 datasets in this collection contain: (1) French population, economic, and social data obtained from the quenquennial censuses of 1901, 1906, 1911, and 1921, that detail the composition of the population by categories of age, sex, nativity, marital status, religion, place of residence, and occupation, (2) industrial census data for the years 1861-1896, (3) data on primary education in France for 1833, 1901, and 1906, as well as data on secondary and higher education in France for the years 1836-1850, 1880, and 1892, and (4) data from a separate series of annual vital statistics (Mouvement de la Population) that cover the years 1836-1850, 1892, and 1900-1925, citing births, deaths, and marriages in the nation.

This statistic shows the population distribution in France on January 1st, 2025, by age group. In 2025, people aged under 15 accounted for 16.7 percent of the total French population, whereas around 10 percent of the population were 75 years and older. By comparison, the number of members of the population over the age of 65 years has increased even more prominently, reaching 14.57 million in 2025. The number of people living in France has been steadily increasing since 1982, exceeding 68 million in 2025, having thus grown by seven percent during that time.

FR: Population: Male: Ages 25-29: % of Male Population data was reported at 6.132 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.214 % for 2016. FR: Population: Male: Ages 25-29: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 7.311 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.768 % in 1976 and a record low of 5.945 % in 1969. FR: Population: Male: Ages 25-29: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 25 to 29 as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

This statistic shows the total population of France from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, the total population of France amounted to 68.44 million people. See the population of Italy for comparison. France's population Although the total French population has annually increased, population growth has been in a slump from 2006 to 2012. However, the decrease of population growth is seemingly irrelative to births in the country, primarily because France’s fertility rate has remained relatively steady over the past decade, based on information from 2011. Yearly population growth could potentially be attributed to a positive lifestyle in the country and a steady economic growth. France is ranked in the top 30 countries with the highest Human Development Index , also known as HDI, which is determined based on life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education levels and gross national income per capita. France, in this case, was ranked 12th out of the top 20 countries with the highest life expectancy in 2011. From an economic standpoint, France has remained stable, despite several complications within the European Union. Since the 2008 financial crisis, France’s unemployment rate has increased and has experienced several swings year-to-year up until 2014. However, despite fluctuating unemployment rates, GDP growth has very slightly been on the rise on a yearly basis, ever since experiencing a dramatic drop in 2009. Additionally, the GDP itself has continuously been fluctuating since 2008), after enduring a continuous increase in the years prior.

FR: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data was reported at 4.593 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.490 % for 2016. FR: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 2.231 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.593 % in 2017 and a record low of 1.328 % in 1965. FR: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 80 and above as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Complete population data for France showing how many people live in France from 1960 to 2024

In 2025, the Ile-de-France region, sometimes called the Paris region, was the most populous in France. It is located in the northern part of France, divided into eight departments and crossed by the Seine River. The region contains Paris, its large suburbs, and several rural areas. The total population in metropolitan France was estimated at around ** million inhabitants. In the DOM (Overseas Department), France had more than *** million citizens spread over the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte, and the South American territory of French Guiana. Ile-de-France: the most populous region in France According to the source, more than ** million French citizens lived in the Ile-de-France region. Ile-de-France was followed by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie region which is in the Southern part of the country. Ile-de-France is not only the most populated region in France, it is also the French region with the highest population density. In 2020, there were ******* residents per square kilometer in Ile-de-France compared to ***** for Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the second most populated region in France. More than two million people were living in the city of Paris in 2025. Thus, the metropolitan area outside the city of Paris, called the suburbs or banlieue in French, had more than ten million inhabitants. Ile-de-France concentrates the majority of the country’s economic and political activities. An urban population In 2024, the total population of France amounted to over 68 million. The population in the country has increased since the mid-2000s. As well as the other European countries, France is experiencing urbanization. In 2023, more than ** percent of the French population lived in cities. This phenomenon shapes France’s geography.

Comprehensive socio-economic dataset for France including population demographics, economic indicators, geographic data, and social statistics. This dataset covers key metrics such as GDP, population density, area, capital city, and regional classifications.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for France (LFWA64TTFRA647N) from 2003 to 2024 about working-age, 15 to 64 years, France, and population.

France FR: Population: Total data was reported at 67,118,648.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 66,859,768.000 Person for 2016. France FR: Population: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 58,009,594.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 67,118,648.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 46,814,237.000 Person in 1960. France FR: Population: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Sum; Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for France (LFWA64TTFRQ647N) from Q1 1998 to Q2 2025 about working-age, 15 to 64 years, France, and population.

During the eighteenth century, it is estimated that France's population grew by roughly fifty percent, from 19.7 million in 1700, to 29 million by 1800. In France itself, the 1700s are remembered for the end of King Louis XIV's reign in 1715, the Age of Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. During this century, the scientific and ideological advances made in France and across Europe challenged the leadership structures of the time, and questioned the relationship between monarchial, religious and political institutions and their subjects. France was arguably the most powerful nation in the world in these early years, with the second largest population in Europe (after Russia); however, this century was defined by a number of costly, large-scale conflicts across Europe and in the new North American theater, which saw the loss of most overseas territories (particularly in North America) and almost bankrupted the French crown. A combination of regressive taxation, food shortages and enlightenment ideologies ultimately culminated in the French Revolution in 1789, which brought an end to the Ancien Régime, and set in motion a period of self-actualization.

War and peace

After a volatile and tumultuous decade, in which tens of thousands were executed by the state (most infamously: guillotined), relative stability was restored within France as Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799, and the policies of the revolution became enforced. Beyond France's borders, the country was involved in a series of large scale wars for two almost decades, and the First French Empire eventually covered half of Europe by 1812. In 1815, Napoleon was defeated outright, the empire was dissolved, and the monarchy was restored to France; nonetheless, a large number of revolutionary and Napoleonic reforms remained in effect afterwards, and the ideas had a long-term impact across the globe. France experienced a century of comparative peace in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars; there were some notable uprisings and conflicts, and the monarchy was abolished yet again, but nothing on the scale of what had preceded or what was to follow. A new overseas colonial empire was also established in the late 1800s, particularly across Africa and Southeast Asia. Through most of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, France had the second largest population in Europe (after Russia), however political instability and the economic prioritization of Paris meant that the entire country did not urbanize or industrialize at the same rate as the other European powers. Because of this, Germany and Britain entered the twentieth century with larger populations, and other regions, such as Austria or Belgium, had overtaken France in terms of industrialization; the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War was also a major contributor to this.

World Wars and contemporary France

Coming into the 1900s, France had a population of approximately forty million people (officially 38 million* due to to territorial changes), and there was relatively little growth in the first half of the century. France was comparatively unprepared for a large scale war, however it became one of the most active theaters of the First World War when Germany invaded via Belgium in 1914, with the ability to mobilize over eight million men. By the war's end in 1918, France had lost almost 1.4 million in the conflict, and approximately 300,000 in the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed. Germany invaded France again during the Second World War, and occupied the country from 1940, until the Allied counter-invasion liberated the country during the summer of 1944. France lost around 600,000 people in the course of the war, over half of which were civilians. Following the war's end, the country experienced a baby boom, and the population grew by approximately twenty million people in the next fifty years (compared to just one million in the previous fifty years). Since the 1950s, France's economy quickly grew to be one of the strongest in the world, despite losing the vast majority of its overseas colonial empire by the 1970s. A wave of migration, especially from these former colonies, has greatly contributed to the growth and diversity of France's population today, which stands at over 65 million people in 2020.

France FR: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data was reported at 6.613 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.625 % for 2016. France FR: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.308 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.288 % in 1997 and a record low of 3.700 % in 1965. France FR: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 45 to 49 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

France FR: Urban Population Growth data was reported at 0.715 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.728 % for 2016. France FR: Urban Population Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 0.808 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.304 % in 1963 and a record low of 0.313 % in 1991. France FR: Urban Population Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Weighted average;

France FR: Population Density: People per Square Km data was reported at 122.578 Person/sq km in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 122.106 Person/sq km for 2016. France FR: Population Density: People per Square Km data is updated yearly, averaging 106.257 Person/sq km from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2017, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 122.578 Person/sq km in 2017 and a record low of 86.647 Person/sq km in 1961. France FR: Population Density: People per Square Km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.; ; Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank population estimates.; Weighted average;

This statistic shows the share of the population in France in 2023, by nationality status. It appears that French-born citizens accounted for around 87 percent of the French population, while 8.2 percent of the people living in France in 2023 were foreigners.

The statistic depicts the median age in France between 1950 and 2100. The median age of a population is an index that divides the population into two equal groups: half of the population is older than the median age and the other half younger. In 2024, the median age of France's population was 42.07 years.

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.

France FR: Population: Growth data was reported at 0.386 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.399 % for 2016. France FR: Population: Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 0.570 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.412 % in 1962 and a record low of 0.079 % in 1991. France FR: Population: Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage . Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; Derived from total population. Population source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;