Urban population share in France

78.8% of people in France lived in urban areas in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1960.

Measure: Urban population share Unit: % of total population Data: 1960 to 2025 Source: World Bank
France, 2025 78.8% % of total population
Change from 2024 0percentage points 2024: 78.8%
European Union, 2025 75.2% Official aggregate
Median of European Union (27 countries), 2025 70.7% Middle value of 27 countries
Position in 2025 65th of 217 See the full ranking

Urban population share in France over time

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% of total population. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Urban population share (% of total population), 2001 to 2025
Period FranceEuropean Union
2025 78.8% 75.2%
2024 78.8% 75.0%
2023 78.8% 74.9%
2022 78.8% 74.8%
2021 78.7% 74.6%
2020 78.7% 74.5%
2019 78.7% 74.5%
2018 78.7% 74.3%
2017 78.6% 74.2%
2016 78.6% 74.1%
2015 77.8% 73.9%
2014 77.4% 73.7%
2013 77.2% 73.5%
2012 77.2% 73.4%
2011 77.1% 73.2%
2010 77.1% 73.1%
2009 77.1% 72.9%
2008 77.2% 72.8%
2007 77.2% 72.7%
2006 77.3% 72.6%
2005 77.4% 72.4%
2004 77.5% 72.2%
2003 77.5% 72.1%
2002 77.3% 71.9%
2001 76.9% 71.8%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of 0 percentage points from 78.8% in 2024.
  • Since 2015, when it was 77.8%, the figure has changed by +1.1 percentage points.
  • Among the 217 countries with data for 2025, France has the 65th highest value.
  • The figure for the European Union in 2025 was 75.2%.

Source and dates

Original producer
United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1960 to 2025 for France
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects