France vs Thailand: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
France
24.97 million people
in 2020
Thailand
28.19 million people
in 2020
France rank
14th
Thailand rank
12th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- France
- Thailand
How they compare
Thailand currently reports 28.19 million people against 24.97 million people in France, a difference of 3.22 million people.
That makes Thailand's figure about 1.1 times France's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was France ahead.
France ranks 14th and Thailand ranks 12th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, France averaged higher in 2 and Thailand in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | Thailand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 17.65 million people | 14.77 million people | 2.88 million people | France |
| 1960s | 18.53 million people | 18.05 million people | 486,000 people | France |
| 1970s | 19.42 million people | 21.66 million people | 2.23 million people | Thailand |
| 1980s | 20.37 million people | 26.06 million people | 5.69 million people | Thailand |
| 1990s | 21.44 million people | 29.22 million people | 7.78 million people | Thailand |
| 2000s | 22.69 million people | 29.57 million people | 6.87 million people | Thailand |
| 2010s | 24.26 million people | 29.13 million people | 4.86 million people | Thailand |
| 2020s | 24.97 million people | 28.19 million people | 3.22 million people | Thailand |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, France or Thailand?
- Thailand, at 28.19 million people against 24.97 million people in France as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between France and Thailand?
- 3.22 million people, with Thailand ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and Thailand?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do France and Thailand rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- France ranks 14th and Thailand ranks 12th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.