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France Population and Religion Percentage

France, officially the French Republic is a country primarily located in Western Europe, consisting of metropolitan France and several overseas regions and territories. It’s the fourth most populous country in Europe. 

As per the UN World Population Prospects report, the estimated population of France in 2022 is 64,626,628. . According to the National Institute of Statistics as on Sept 2022, the population of France is 67,939,000 (67.9 million)

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Table of Contents

France Demographics

France 2023 Population
Total Population 67,939,000 (68 million)
Global Rank 20th
Share of World Pop. 0.84%
Land Area  640,427 sq. km (247,270 sq. mi)
Area Rank 42nd
Pop. Density 106 per sq. km (275 people per sq. mi). 
Growth Rate 0.20%
Fertility Rate* in France 1.9
Infant mortality rate** in France 2.7
Median Age in France 42.3 years
Life Expectancy in France 83.13  years
Urban Population of France 81.5 %

Religion in France

France is a religiously diverse and secular nation. Christianity is the majority religion and is followed by almost half of the population. It has a high percentage of the Irreligious population, people who don’t follow or adhere to any religion.

Among Christians about three-fifths of the French people belong to the Roman Catholic Church.  Protestants, who number 700,000 or 2% of the population, belong to several different denominations. Eastern Orthodoxy and Other Christians account for 4% of the population.

Non-Christian faiths account for 12%, and the remaining 40% are classified as unaffiliated, which can mean agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular.”

Among other religions, Muslims account for 5% of the France population. Reflecting the presence of immigrants from North Africa, Algeria, and Morocco, France has one of Europe’s largest Muslim populations: an estimated 5,000,000 Muslims, a sizable percentage of them living in and around Marseille in southeastern France, as well as in Paris and Lyon.

There are more than 700,000 adherents of Judaism accounting for 1% of France’s Population. Buddhism is also followed by a sizeable number of the population and accounts for 1-2 % of the population. Other faiths include Hinduism, Sikhism, Baháʼí Faith, Paganism, and New Age religion.

Religion Percentage in France as on 2021

Religion / AffiliationsPercentage
Christianity  47% 
– Catholicism – 41%
– Protestantism – 2%
– Eastern Orthodoxy – 2%
– Other Christians – 2%
No religion/ Agnostic/ Atheist40%
Islam  5%
Buddhism  1%
Jewish  1%
Other religions  5%
Undeclared 1%

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Top Cities in France by Population
#CityProvincePopulation
1ParisÎle-de-France21,90,327
2MarseilleProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur8,62,211
3LyonAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes5,15,695
4ToulouseOccitanie4,75,438
5NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur3,42,637
6NantesPays de la Loire3,06,694
7MontpellierOccitanie2,81,613
8StrasbourgGrand Est2,79,284
9BordeauxNouvelle-Aquitaine2,52,040
10LilleHauts-de-France2,32,440
11RennesBrittany2,16,268
12ReimsGrand Est1,83,113
13Saint-ÉtienneAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1,71,924
14Le HavreNormandy1,70,352
15ToulonProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur1,69,634
16GrenobleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1,58,180
17DijonBourgogne-Franche-Comté1,55,090
18AngersPays de la Loire1,51,229
19NîmesOccitanie1,51,001
20VilleurbanneAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1,49,019

Source: 2016 Census

 

Source: UN World Population Prospects and National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, France 

*Fertility rate, average number of children born to women during their reproductive years.

**Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births of children under one year of age.

Population of France 2024 | Religion in France

Rajeev Rana

Rajeev Rana loves reading about history and demography and has been writing on these topics for five years. While not a certified expert, he has a deep understanding of demography in India. Rajeev contributes to several websites and has extensive knowledge of the Delhi NCR area.