General

The population of France in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 60,144,000, which placed it as number 20 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 16% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 19% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 95 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000-2005 is 0.47%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 62,841,000. The population density in 2002 was 108 per sq km (279 per sq mi). Much of the population is concentrated in the north and southeast areas of the country.

It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 76% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city, Paris, had a population of 9,608,000 in that year. The next largest cities include Marseilles, 1,243,000; Lyon, 1,381,000; and Lille, 1,003,000. Other major urban centres include Toulouse, Nice, Strasbourg, Nantes, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Rennes, Saint-Étienne and Le Havre. According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000–2005 was 0.6%.

Overview

Population:
total: 63,713,926
note: 60,876,136 in metropolitan France (July 2007 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.6% (male 6,063,181/female 5,776,272)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 20,798,889/female 20,763,283)
65 years and over: 16.2% (male 4,274,290/female 6,038,011) (2007 est.)

Median age:
total: 39 years
male: 37.5 years
female: 40.4 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.588% (2007 est.)

Birth rate:
12.91 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate:
8.55 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate:
1.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.002 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.708 male(s)/female
total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)