Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France
France: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 10.51 million people in 2020. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
The most recent figure for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France is 10.51 million people, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France peaked at 10.51 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 5.36 million people, in 1950.
France ranks 31st of 182 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 5.59 million people | 5.36 million people | 5.83 million people | 2 |
| 1960s | 6.51 million people | 6.34 million people | 6.68 million people | 2 |
| 1970s | 7.23 million people | 7.04 million people | 7.42 million people | 2 |
| 1980s | 7.62 million people | 7.49 million people | 7.74 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 8.14 million people | 8.06 million people | 8.22 million people | 2 |
| 2000s | 9.62 million people | 9.41 million people | 9.83 million people | 2 |
| 2010s | 10.28 million people | 10.14 million people | 10.42 million people | 2 |
| 2020s | 10.51 million people | 10.51 million people | 10.51 million people | 1 |
Countries ranked near France
More reference data data for France
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.5862 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 3.31 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.1356 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies -0.3048 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 1.2 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 127.7 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France?
- Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in France was 10.51 million people in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 10.51 million people in 2020.
- What is the lowest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.36 million people in 1950.
- How does France rank for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- France ranks 31st out of 182 countries with data for 2020.
- Is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.