Finland vs France: Share of population living in rural areas

Finland
39.1%
in 2020
France
37.9%
in 2020
Finland rank
62nd
France rank
64th

Share of population living in rural areas over time

  • Finland
  • France
0204060195019852020

How they compare

Finland currently reports 39.1% against 37.9% in France, a difference of 1.2%.

Across all 15 years both countries report, Finland has been ahead every year.

Finland ranks 62nd and France ranks 64th of 236 countries.

Finland has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Finland France Difference Ahead
1950s 51.0% 41.1% 9.9% Finland
1960s 49.1% 38.9% 10.2% Finland
1970s 48.6% 37.5% 11.1% Finland
1980s 47.3% 37.2% 10.0% Finland
1990s 45.0% 37.2% 7.8% Finland
2000s 42.8% 37.5% 5.4% Finland
2010s 40.4% 37.8% 2.6% Finland
2020s 39.1% 37.9% 1.2% Finland

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher share of population living in rural areas, Finland or France?
Finland, at 39.1% against 37.9% in France as of 2020.
What is the difference in share of population living in rural areas between Finland and France?
1.2%, with Finland ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Finland and France?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Finland and France rank globally for share of population living in rural areas?
Finland ranks 62nd and France ranks 64th 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 Share of population living in rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Finland vs France: Share of population living in rural areas. Statizoid, drawing on European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-population-living-in-rural-areas/finland/france/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-population-living-in-rural-areas/finland/france/">Finland vs France: Share of population living in rural areas</a> β€” Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of population living in rural areas
Unit
%
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 3,540 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Estimated share of the population living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.