8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Western Europe

Born in France

About 1 in 207 people born in 2023 started life in France. A boy can expect to live 80 years and a girl 86, up from 63 and 69 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 207
odds of being born here
638,900 births · Ranked 46th of 230
80 / 86
years of life, boys / girls
Was 63 / 69 in 1950
$24,383
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 41st of 203 · extrapolated
79%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 17 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 60 in every 1,000 births to 4.1.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
020406080195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth80.4 years for boys, 86.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 54.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year616,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles95%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year8 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.64UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $24,383 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.3% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming3% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment104% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Paris, with 2.1 million people.

79%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Paris2.1 million
Marseille877,215
Lyon520,774
Toulouse511,684
Nice342,669
Languages
Share of people who can use each
French97%
English39%
Spanish13%
German5%
Occitan3%
French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Île-de-France12.2 million
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur4.1 million
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes2.7 million
Hauts-de-France2.2 million
Occitanie1.9 million
New Aquitaine1.8 million
Grand Est1.8 million
Pays de la Loire1.3 million
Normandy988,834
Brittany864,151

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 13 regions
  • Île-de-France12.2 million
  • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur4.1 million
  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes2.7 million
  • Hauts-de-France2.2 million
  • Occitanie1.9 million
  • New Aquitaine1.8 million
  • Grand Est1.8 million
  • Pays de la Loire1.3 million
  • Normandy988,834
  • Brittany864,151
  • Centre-Val de Loire827,495
  • Bourgogne-Franche-Comté804,396
  • Corsica95,365

People on the move

About 3.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Spain, Belgium.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States253,094
Spain217,960
Belgium196,995
Residents born abroad13.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (253,094), Spain (217,960), Belgium (196,995)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $44.5 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 100%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
100%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024167,985Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19502NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 19801NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence268 between 2015 and 2023UCDP

Now live it.

Born in France, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in France

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences