France: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 41.9 million people, so the population is now 1.6 times as large.

The UN projects 634,000 births and 631,000 deaths in 2026, 2,870 more births than deaths.

The UN projects the first year with more deaths than births in 2027.

More people move in than leave: net migration in 2026 is projected at plus 88,500.

The median age is 42.5, which is 11.4 years above the world’s 31.1.

16% of the people are under 15 and 23% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

People aged 65 and over have outnumbered children under 15 since 2015.

Women have 1.6 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 3.0 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 83.7 years, above the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 66.4.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 68.2 million people, 2.2% more than now, with a median age of 43.5.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 83.3 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 23.8 more years for women and 20.0 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 37.2 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 48.4.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 68.5 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 39.2 million to 100 million.

Life expectancy at birth is a period measure. It sums up the death rates of one year and is not a forecast of how long the babies born that year will live.

In mid-2024, 9.19 million international migrants lived here, 13.8% of the population.

In mid-2024, 2.55 million people from here lived in other countries.