France and Germany: a history of criss-crossing demographic curves
Collection: Population & Societies
n°487, March 2012
Abstract
Two centuries ago, the German population, at around 15 million inhabitants, was just half that of France. It then increased rapidly over the next 150 years, overtaking France to reach 60 million inhabitants in 1939 (versus 41 million in France). However, projections suggest that the French population may again outnumber that of Germany within the next half century.