Photo: SmartDrones Aarhus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lyon: population

Lyon, France: 1.2 million people in 2025, by the UN estimate.

Rank among the cities of the country: 2 of 71.

In 1975 it had 834,000 people.

In 2000 it had 1.02 million people, so it has grown by 18% since then.

For 2050 the UN projects 1.27 million people.

A city here is a dense area of at least 1,500 people per km² with at least 50,000 people, drawn on a population grid by the UN degree of urbanisation. It can differ from the city’s administrative borders and from national statistics. Years from 2026 on are projections.

Population, 1975 to 2050Projected from 20260500K1M1.5M19801990200020102020203020402050
2025 Lyon: 1.2M

Largest cities: France

City20252050, projected
Paris9,381,9219,326,092
Lyon1,202,9851,274,733
Lille893,282844,012
Marseille891,463981,662
Toulouse642,224728,902
Bordeaux631,551673,851
Nantes453,523477,104
Nice418,294451,475
Strasbourg398,175392,468
Grenoble359,128376,915

France: population and ages

Sources: World Urbanization Prospects 2025, UN DESA Population Division (CC BY 3.0 IGO).

All cities