Largest Cities by Population in France

40 cities in France with 100,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by population estimates for January 1, 2023 (by National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, France).

Rank	City	Population
1	Paris	2,103,778
2	Marseille	886,040
3	Lyon	519,127
4	Toulouse	514,819
5	Nice	357,737
6	Nantes	327,734
7	Montpellier	310,240
8	Strasbourg	293,771
9	Bordeaux	267,991
10	Lille	238,246
11	Rennes	230,890
12	Toulon	179,116
13	Reims	177,674
14	Saint-Étienne	173,136
15	Le Havre	166,687
16	Villeurbanne	163,684
17	Dijon	161,830
18	Angers	159,022
19	Grenoble	156,140
20	Nîmes	151,839
21	Aix-en-Provence	149,695
22	Saint-Denisincl. Pierrefitte-sur-Seine	149,077
23	Clermont-Ferrand	146,351
24	Le Mans	146,249
25	Brest	142,346
26	Tours	139,259
27	Amiens	136,449
28	Annecy	132,117
29	Limoges	129,937
30	Metz	122,572
31	Perpignan	121,616
32	Boulogne-Billancourt	119,019
33	Besançon	118,489
34	Rouen	117,662
35	Orléans	116,357
36	Montreuil	111,934
37	Caen	109,400
38	Argenteuil	106,130
39	Mulhouse	104,978
40	Nancy	103,671

Source: National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, France (2023 estimate), via City Population by Thomas Brinkhoff.

Why don't these match official city populations?Official figures typically count only the population within administrative boundaries. UN urban area figures cover the entire built-up area, which can include multiple cities and towns.Show moreShow less

Tokyo

33,338,852

Urban area

9,953,160

23 wards

Essen

2,709,375

Urban area

573,618

City of Essen

Ankara

3,630,865

Urban area

5,186,002

Metropolitan municipality

What counts as an urban area? The UN uses satellite imagery to map built-up land, and treats each continuous stretch of built-up land as an urban area. This means that urban areas can extend beyond official city boundaries, and may include multiple cities and towns within a single urban area.

Can an urban area be smaller than its city? Yes. While most cities have urban areas larger than their administrative boundaries, some cities have extensive administrative limits that include sparsely populated areas.

71 urban areas in France with 50,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by the UN's population estimates for 2026.

Rank	Urban Area	Population Estimate (2026)	Yearly Change	Land Area (km²)	Density (P/km²)	World Rank	Projections (2030)	Projections (2050)
1	Paris	9,380,592	−0.01%	1,381	6,793	36	9,375,275	9,326,092
2	Lyon	1,205,927	+0.24%	242	4,975	430	1,217,694	1,274,733
3	Marseille	903,223	+1.30%	173	5,209	576	950,264	981,662
4	Lille	891,086	−0.25%	211	4,223	586	882,302	844,012
5	Toulouse	644,510	+0.35%	188	3,428	844	653,656	728,902
6	Bordeaux	633,764	+0.35%	183	3,467	858	642,614	673,851
7	Nantes	454,361	+0.18%	121	3,755	1,241	457,712	477,104
8	Nice	419,421	+0.27%	108	3,884	1,357	423,929	451,475
9	Strasbourg	397,891	−0.07%	93	4,278	1,441	396,756	392,468
10	Grenoble	360,285	+0.32%	83	4,320	1,601	364,913	376,915
11	Montpellier	324,747	+0.21%	69	4,706	1,783	327,498	344,762
12	Rouen	312,711	+0.52%	96	3,257	1,855	319,271	318,323
13	Toulon	300,796	+0.67%	101	2,978	1,940	308,873	317,885
14	Rennes	249,341	+0.46%	51	4,851	2,373	253,959	267,939
15	Cergy	236,302	+0.02%	72	3,282	2,511	236,466	235,922
16	Cannes	222,804	+0.39%	87	2,555	2,679	226,306	234,123
17	Tours	216,055	+0.20%	67	3,225	2,768	217,775	237,825
18	Nancy	208,783	−0.08%	48	4,350	2,893	208,150	205,825
19	Maurepas	206,247	+0.03%	64	3,223	2,923	206,455	206,148
20	Orléans	205,663	0.00%	69	2,981	2,930	205,685	207,094
21	Dijon	198,543	−0.08%	49	4,052	3,050	197,928	195,701
22	Clermont-Ferrand	189,220	+0.16%	51	3,710	3,220	190,454	194,433
23	Reims	187,369	−0.01%	44	4,258	3,258	187,315	186,342
24	Saint-Étienne	180,730	+0.38%	43	4,184	3,373	183,465	202,181
25	Mulhouse	168,483	−0.08%	45	3,744	3,629	167,967	166,123
26	Le Havre	164,252	−0.01%	58	2,822	3,723	164,204	169,723
27	Lens	162,542	−0.80%	70	2,309	3,767	157,322	135,322
28	Angers	159,261	+0.19%	45	3,539	3,852	160,447	171,794
29	Caen	146,617	0.00%	43	3,410	4,202	146,634	145,933
30	Le Mans	146,013	+0.19%	45	3,245	4,226	147,101	158,091
31	Metz	138,640	−0.07%	40	3,466	4,446	138,229	136,723
32	Brest	133,570	+0.23%	40	3,339	4,619	134,805	141,780
33	Nimes	132,974	+0.20%	39	3,410	4,641	134,029	137,469
34	Annecy	125,902	+0.24%	34	3,703	4,916	127,131	131,000
35	Perpignan	120,071	+0.13%	31	3,873	5,183	120,685	130,447
36	Limoges	111,679	+0.44%	30	3,698	5,593	113,644	117,950
37	Amiens	108,303	+0.52%	27	3,953	5,769	110,552	110,553
38	Besançon	104,048	−0.08%	30	3,468	6,021	103,734	102,549
39	Pau	101,714	+0.42%	32	3,179	6,148	103,408	122,697
40	Bayonne	100,996	+4.61%	42	2,405	6,189	119,636	129,785
41	Troyes	100,839	−0.02%	29	3,477	6,206	100,745	98,396
42	Valenciennes	98,602	−0.57%	35	2,833	6,349	96,368	92,211
43	Poitiers	93,527	+0.55%	29	3,203	6,696	95,589	99,810
44	Le Mée-sur-Seine	91,168	+0.01%	26	3,506	6,888	91,218	90,877
45	Dunkirk	87,578	−0.26%	30	2,919	7,187	86,664	82,970
46	Montévrain	87,099	+0.02%	25	3,484	7,234	87,181	86,986
47	Aix-en-Provence	85,207	+0.20%	21	4,057	7,405	85,901	88,185
48	Chambéry	84,728	+0.23%	29	2,922	7,452	85,501	92,956
49	Lorient	79,811	+1.78%	30	2,643	7,922	85,480	89,007
50	Annemasse	78,659	+0.18%	16	4,916	8,042	79,225	82,612
51	Poissy	78,303	+0.03%	24	3,263	8,080	78,385	78,355
52	Valence	77,802	+0.16%	25	3,112	8,133	78,288	79,828
53	La Rochelle	77,332	+1.68%	39	1,993	8,176	82,518	86,494
54	Avignon	77,050	+0.17%	23	3,350	8,209	77,576	97,476
55	Creil	76,288	+0.01%	20	3,814	8,268	76,330	76,063
56	Mantes-la-Ville	74,689	−0.01%	20	3,734	8,441	74,667	77,938
57	Calais	72,344	−0.27%	26	2,782	8,693	71,565	68,518
58	Boulogne-sur-Mer	67,735	−0.82%	24	2,870	9,263	65,510	62,823
59	Chartres	65,920	−0.01%	21	3,139	9,528	65,889	65,429
60	Béziers	65,608	+0.12%	18	3,645	9,571	65,928	68,385
61	Colmar	64,551	−0.10%	16	4,034	9,735	64,294	63,371
62	Douai	62,720	−0.26%	23	2,727	10,020	62,066	59,510
63	Belfort	62,567	−0.07%	18	3,476	10,050	62,389	61,726
64	Marignane	62,338	+0.22%	30	2,078	10,094	62,884	67,964
65	Ajaccio	61,012	+1.26%	21	2,933	10,287	64,089	72,819
66	Cherbourg-en-Cotentin	59,693	+0.02%	31	1,926	10,481	59,748	59,685
67	Arras	59,632	−0.24%	22	2,711	10,491	59,062	56,636
68	Saint-Brieuc	59,253	+0.21%	25	2,370	10,551	59,755	62,372
69	Bussy-Saint-Georges	54,981	+0.02%	12	4,582	11,319	55,027	54,941
70	Meaux	51,045	0.00%	14	3,646	12,028	51,041	53,468
71	Saint-Nazaire	50,421	+0.21%	23	2,192	12,074	50,835	60,532

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision, Online Edition.

Data topics

Reference

Tools

Largest Cities by Population in France

See also