United Kingdom vs France

United Kingdom
Europe & Central Asia
High income
Capital: London
Population
69.2M
GDP
$3.7T
France
Europe & Central Asia
High income
Capital: Paris
Population
68.6M
GDP
$3.2T

POP 1.0x GDP 1.2x LE 1.6 yrs same-band HIC

Widest indicator spreads · United Kingdom vs France

Foreign Direct Investment124.9%Net Migration78.3%Population Growth Rate75.4%Forest Area59.1%Population Density55.2%Freshwater Withdrawal52.5%Unemployment Rate41.1%Poverty (< $2.15/day)40%
TIGHT pair: headers nearly match, so the chart is Foreign Direct Investment rather than GDP scale.

Demographics: Population Growth Rate (United Kingdom, 75% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Population Growth Rate 1.1% 0.3% 2024
Population Density 283.1 126.9 2023

5 closer demographics rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Economy: Foreign Direct Investment (France, 125% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Foreign Direct Investment $-12,955,141,484.504 $52.1B 2024
Unemployment Rate 4.4% 7.4% 2024
Inflation (Consumer Prices) 3.3% 2.0% 2024

6 closer economy rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Health: Infant Mortality Rate (France, 17% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Infant Mortality Rate 4.1 3.4 2024

6 closer health rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Education: School Enrollment (Tertiary) (United Kingdom, 11% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
School Enrollment (Tertiary) 80.5% 71.5% 2023
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 5.9% 5.3% 2021

2 closer education rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Environment: Forest Area (France, 59% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Forest Area 13.3% 32.5% 2023
Freshwater Withdrawal 5.8% 12.2% 2022
Electric Power Consumption 4,195 6,447 2024
Renewable Energy Consumption 12.2% 16.2% 2021

1 closer environment rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Infrastructure: Access to Sanitation (United Kingdom, 8% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Access to Sanitation 97.8% 90.0% 2024
Internet Users 95.5% 88.7% 2024

3 closer infrastructure rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Social: Net Migration (United Kingdom, 78% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
Net Migration 417.1K 90.5K 2024
Poverty (< $2.15/day) 0.5% 0.1% 2021
Intentional Homicides 1.1 1.3 2021

3 closer social rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Labor & Wages: PPP Conversion Factor (GDP) (France, 2% spread)

Indicator United Kingdom France Year
PPP Conversion Factor (GDP) 0.7 0.7 2024
Average Weekly Hours Worked 34.9 35.5 2025

1 closer labor & wages rows sit on the United Kingdom and France profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

How to read this United Kingdom vs France comparison

United Kingdom vs France is a TIGHT pair on population/GDP scale (same-band HIC: HIC/HIC). Look past the near-parity headers to Foreign Direct Investment (~125% spread); 46 WDI/WHO/ILO figures across 8 topics. Shared income tier makes small rate gaps more informative than totals. Figures may come from different reporting years; dollar values move with exchange rates; national averages conceal inequality. See our methodology.

Other curated pairs · TIGHT band

Indexable comparisons only (Module 42). Full picker with every country lives on /compare, not duplicated under every pair.

United Kingdom vs France figures: World Bank Open Data and health rows: WHO Global Health Observatory. CC BY 4.0 · same-band HIC · TIGHT scale band.