Paris, France Population

Paris is a bustling, vibrant city with a rich and storied history. Known for its incredible landmarks, gourmet food, and art and culture, Paris is home to 11 million people in the suburban area, and 2.1 million in the city proper.

Paris is the largest city and the capital in France. However, the City of Paris is packed into only 103 kilometres, making the celebrated city not exceptionally large in land mass. In the past 70 years, Paris’s population has almost doubled in size from 6.2 million people in 1950 and has now become the most populous urban area in all of Europe, with a population density of 21,000 people per square kilometer.

A young city

Paris owes most of its population growth to the birth of children between the years of 1999 to 2009. Most of the city’s population is now under 64 years old. In fact, 1.83 out of that 2.1 million people living in the city are under 64. This makes Paris a city that is quite a bit younger than the rest of the country with a median age of 36 (compared to the country’s 41.4). However, while people do more to the city when they are younger for the better wages, job market, and active social and cultural lifestyle, they tend to move back to rural areas once they reach retirement age.

A wage that is 60% higher than the national average

Many people move to Paris from other parts of the country for its significantly higher wages. The average household income in Paris is 36,085 Euros, which is 60% higher than France's national average. People can make much more in the city than they can in rural areas working the same job. However, cost of living in Paris is also significantly higher than in other parts of France.

A long history of sex work

Paris has a long and storied history related to sex work. In fact, even as far back as 1789, there were an estimated 30,000 prostitutes in Paris and 10,000 high-class prostitutes who were registered due to criminal law. At the beginning of the French Revolution, prostitution was decriminalized and the royal orders were abandoned entirely in 1791, so prostitution no longer appeared in criminal law.

Prostitution remains legal in France and therefore in Paris. According to 2004 statistics from the Central Office for Repression of Trafficking in Human Beings, there were 7,000 to 7,500 prostitutes of all sexes in the city. However, there is some argument that these figures do not reflect the true number of sex workers, since it does not take into account sex workers who have never had any interaction with the police, escorts who find their clients online, or salaried sex works that limit their liaisons per month.

Tourists outnumber residents

Paris remains one of the most visited cities in all of Europe, with tourists numbering 17.95 million each year. This is due to Paris’ incredible array of landmarks that are world-famous and deeply romanticized. This includes the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles, the Louvre, and—of course—Disneyland Paris! Tourists pump up Paris’ economy and contribute 17 billion dollars to the city, the third highest of any tourism revenue after London and New York City. On top of this, 18.4% of all workers in Paris are engaged in tourism-related sectors.

A growing, foreign-born population and racial tension

While the majority of nonnative Parisians is French, there is a large percentage of the population that is foreign-born. While about one third of Paris’ foreign residents are from other EU countries, there is a large population of immigrants from African countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. These families often live in the poorer northern quarters of the city, which suffer from high unemployment and low social mobility. This has led to racial and religious tensions within these areas.