China vs France

China vs France: Urban population

Urban population in 2025: 66.3% in China and 78.8% in France, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 12.5 percentage points, or 1.19 times that in China.

Watch it change on the map

% of people · UN

China vs France: Urban populationUrban population in 2025: 66.3% in China and 78.8% in France, by UN estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in France, by 12.5 percentage points, or 1.19 times that in China.
ChinaFranceUN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025)

What the numbers say

  • France has been higher in every year both have figures for since 1950.
  • In 2025, China ranked 108 and France ranked 71 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) puts China at 89.7% and France at 86.3% in 2050.

Every year

% of people · UN

YearChinaFrance
202566.378.8
202465.978.8
202365.578.8
202265.278.8
202164.778.7
202063.578.7
201962.778.7
201861.578.7
201760.278.7
201658.878.6
201557.377.8
201455.877.4
201354.577.2
201253.177.2
201151.877.1
201049.277.1
200948.377.1
20084777.2
200745.977.3
200644.377.4
20054377.4
200441.877.5
200340.577.5
200239.177.3
200137.776.9
200036.476.5
199934.876.2
199833.475.9
199731.975.6
199630.575.4
19952975.1
199428.574.9
19932874.6
199227.574.4
199126.974.2
199026.274.1
198926.273.9
198825.873.8
198725.373.7
198624.573.6
198523.773.6
19842373.5
198321.673.4
198220.673.4
198120.273.3
198019.473.3
19791973.2
197817.973.2
197717.673.1
197617.473.1
197517.373
197417.272.9
197317.272.7
197217.172.3
197117.371.9
197017.471.4
196917.570.8
196817.670.2
196717.769.5
196617.968.4
19651867.2
196418.365.9
196316.864.6
196217.363.5
196119.362.5
196019.861.7
195918.460.9
195816.360.1
195715.459.4
195614.658.7
195513.558
195413.757.4
19531356.7
195212.556.1
195111.855.4
195011.254.7
UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025) · 2026–2050
YearChinaFrance
202666.878.9
202767.379
202867.979.1
202968.579.2
203069.179.4
203169.779.6
203270.479.7
203371.180
203471.980.2
203572.780.4
203673.680.7
203774.481
203875.481.3
203976.381.6
204077.381.9
204178.482.3
204279.582.7
204380.683.1
204481.883.5
20458383.9
204684.284.3
204785.584.8
204886.985.3
204988.385.8
205089.786.3

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • The share of people living in places the country itself counts as urban.
  • Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025.
  • The dashed line is the UN projection (World Urbanization Prospects 2025), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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