Statizoid

France vs United Kingdom: Population

France
66.44 million people
in 2023
United Kingdom
68.68 million people
in 2023
France rank
23rd
United Kingdom rank
21st

Population over time

  • France
  • United Kingdom
020.0M40.0M60.0M100015112023

How they compare

United Kingdom currently reports 68.68 million people against 66.44 million people in France, a difference of 2.24 million people.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was France ahead.

France ranks 23rd and United Kingdom ranks 21st of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, France averaged higher in 28 and United Kingdom in 12.

Head to head by decade

Decade France United Kingdom Difference Ahead
1000s 6.44 million people 1.70 million people 4.74 million people France
1100s 7.67 million people 2.56 million people 5.10 million people France
1200s 10.36 million people 4.53 million people 5.83 million people France
1300s 15.81 million people 6.33 million people 9.48 million people France
1400s 10.93 million people 2.90 million people 8.03 million people France
1500s 14.87 million people 4.21 million people 10.66 million people France
1600s 18.31 million people 5.01 million people 13.31 million people France
1700s 21.99 million people 6.76 million people 15.23 million people France
1710s 22.59 million people 7.25 million people 15.34 million people France
1720s 23.19 million people 7.75 million people 15.45 million people France
1730s 23.79 million people 8.25 million people 15.54 million people France
1740s 24.39 million people 8.76 million people 15.63 million people France
1750s 24.99 million people 9.29 million people 15.71 million people France
1760s 25.57 million people 9.82 million people 15.75 million people France
1770s 26.15 million people 10.37 million people 15.78 million people France
1780s 26.72 million people 10.94 million people 15.79 million people France
1790s 27.30 million people 11.52 million people 15.78 million people France
1800s 29.49 million people 11.29 million people 18.21 million people France
1810s 30.62 million people 15.78 million people 14.84 million people France
1820s 32.17 million people 22.44 million people 9.72 million people France
1830s 34.01 million people 25.28 million people 8.73 million people France
1840s 35.55 million people 26.92 million people 8.62 million people France
1850s 36.72 million people 27.95 million people 8.77 million people France
1860s 37.65 million people 30.00 million people 7.66 million people France
1870s 38.44 million people 32.81 million people 5.63 million people France
1880s 39.09 million people 35.86 million people 3.23 million people France
1890s 39.76 million people 39.07 million people 690,590 people France
1900s 40.24 million people 42.76 million people 2.52 million people United Kingdom
1910s 39.46 million people 45.67 million people 6.21 million people United Kingdom
1920s 39.42 million people 46.29 million people 6.87 million people United Kingdom
1930s 40.52 million people 46.86 million people 6.34 million people United Kingdom
1940s 40.90 million people 48.99 million people 8.08 million people United Kingdom
1950s 43.91 million people 51.10 million people 7.19 million people United Kingdom
1960s 48.46 million people 54.11 million people 5.64 million people United Kingdom
1970s 52.45 million people 56.10 million people 3.65 million people United Kingdom
1980s 55.32 million people 56.61 million people 1.30 million people United Kingdom
1990s 58.06 million people 58.09 million people 25,000 people United Kingdom
2000s 61.36 million people 60.56 million people 803,300 people France
2010s 64.68 million people 65.12 million people 439,820 people United Kingdom
2020s 66.18 million people 67.97 million people 1.79 million people United Kingdom

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, France or United Kingdom?
United Kingdom, at 68.68 million people against 66.44 million people in France as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between France and United Kingdom?
2.24 million people, with United Kingdom ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for France and United Kingdom?
241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do France and United Kingdom rank globally for population?
France ranks 23rd and United Kingdom ranks 21st of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.