Is France Bigger Than UK? Unfortunately Not…

Updated :
| By : Louise
Born in Cameroon and adopted at 1 year in France. I spent all my childhood in Alsace before studying in Paris. I like to defend my beautiful country with its strengths and weaknesses. Find me on Linkedin and CV.

Yes, France is 2,3 times bigger than UK in surface area but equivalent in population size :

The total surface area of France is 551,695 Sq. Km. while the area of United Kingdom (UK) is 243,610 Sq. Km. from governmental sources (see below).

Area of the UK includes England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland.

The total area of France includes metropolitan France (France métropolitaine) and the overseas departments and territories : French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion Island…

  • Surface area of metropolitan France (France métropolitaine) is 543 940 Sq. Km.
  • Surface area of France overseas regions (DOM-TOM) is 89 169 Sq. Km.
  • Total surface area of France is 551 695 Sq Km.

So UK represents only 44 % of the Frain total surface area.

france is 2,3 times bigger than uk
Maps overlapping : area of France compared to UK
UKi 2,3 times smaller than France
Maps overlapping : area of UK compared to France

Sources :

  • France : INSEE Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (datas 2020 published March 31 2022)
  • US : United States Census Bureau (census.gov)

Population of France vs UK (official sources)

The French population is equivalent to the UK population.

UK has 67 millions habitants (exactly 67,026,300 in mid-year 2021 estimate) while France has 68 millions (exactly 68 042 591 habitants on January 1st 2023) from governmental sources (see below).

So France is equivalent to UK population size.

Sources :

  • France : INSEE estimates (2023)
  • UK : Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

People also ask about France and UK :

Is France a richer country than the UK?

No, France is not a richer country than the UK.

We can say France and UK are rather comparable concerning Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicator (source: World Bank) :

  • France GDP : 2,957,879.76 $ US
  • United Kingdom (UK) GDP : 3,131,377.76 $ US
Top 7 GDP per country (source : World bank)

Concerning GDP per capita (global GDP divided by population), France and UK are very close (source : World Bank) :

  • France GDP : 43,659.0 $ US
  • United Kingdom (UK) GDP : 46,510.3 $ US

Note that GDP could be an imperfect indicator but the most well-known indicator to compare 2 countries or 2 economies.


Explore Social Studies In France :

5/5 - (4 votes)