Paris - Statistics & Facts
France's capital and most populated city, Paris is also the main city of the Île-de-France region, and the center of the Greater Paris metropolitan area, created in 2016. It is known as the leading political, industrial, commercial, and banking center, the leading business management center, the heart of the road and rail network, the leading river port, as well as the hub of the air network. The capital is also considered a symbol of French culture and is home to world-famous monuments such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, which was badly damaged in a 2019 fire.
While the capital is the city that attracts the most students, Paris is also the place where renting a student studio is the most expensive. In 2023, the rent for such an apartment was 881 euros, while for example, the average student budget for housing in Lyon was 592 euros.
On the other hand, people in Paris are generally satisfied with the environment of their neighborhood for instance, in 2023, 84 percent of the inhabitants of Paris La Défense were satisfied of their neighborhood as a living area. The majority of Parisians consider the social cohesion of their neighborhood to be good, and that people from different social categories or different origins coexist well. They also cite the quality of cultural life as the main achievement of France's capital city municipality.
Paris' population in decline?
In 2023, Paris alone accounted for 2.1 million of the 12.36 million inhabitants of the Île-de-France region. Paris' population has been experiencing a relatively steady decline since 2012, and projections predict that this trend will continue in the coming decades. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), Paris' population will fall below two million by 2055. Inhabitants of Paris between the ages of 15 and 44 are the most numerous: in 2020, they represented nearly half of the Parisian population. Located on the left bank of the Seine, in the southwest of the city, the most populous district (and the largest in terms of surface area) is the 15th arrondissement, which had over 231,000 inhabitants in 2020.Housing crisis
Paris is the French city where the price of living is the highest, especially housing. In 2018, it was the fourth most expensive city in the world to rent a two-room apartment, after Hong Kong, San Francisco, and New York. In January 2023, a rent of 718 euros only allowed to rent an apartment of 17 square meters in Paris, while this amount was enough to rent an apartment twice that size in Lyon, the second most expensive city in France for housing. The districts with the highest real estate prices are the 6th and 7th arrondissements.While the capital is the city that attracts the most students, Paris is also the place where renting a student studio is the most expensive. In 2023, the rent for such an apartment was 881 euros, while for example, the average student budget for housing in Lyon was 592 euros.
Leaving Paris?
In 2021, right after the COVID-19 crisis, 44 percent of Parisians considered it likely that they would move out of the capital in the next five years, compared to four points less in 2019, and the primary reason for this was, indeed, the cost of living. More than a quarter also cited the desire for a larger living space as a potential reason for moving. Furthermore, nearly two out of five Parisians consider housing and the cost of living to be the main issues facing Paris today.On the other hand, people in Paris are generally satisfied with the environment of their neighborhood for instance, in 2023, 84 percent of the inhabitants of Paris La Défense were satisfied of their neighborhood as a living area. The majority of Parisians consider the social cohesion of their neighborhood to be good, and that people from different social categories or different origins coexist well. They also cite the quality of cultural life as the main achievement of France's capital city municipality.
