Annecy Population and Area (Haute-Savoie)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Annecy (Haute-Savoie)
Annecy: Population and Area
With 134,985 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Annecy is the 29th most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Haute-Savoie department, out of 279 communes. It covers 67 km² (606th largest area in France, 7th largest in the department), with a population density of 2,017 inhabitants per km², or 18 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 446th in France for density.
Annecy is located in the Haute-Savoie department (74), in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (formerly Rhône-Alpes), where it ranks 6th by population out of 4,025 communes. It is the most populous town in the Haute-Savoie department, which is home to 881,729 people over 4,388 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Haute-Savoie department and the regional ranking: largest city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Towns of similar size in the Haute-Savoie department: Thonon-les-Bains (pop. 38,946), Annemasse (pop. 37,978), Cluses (pop. 18,170).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 74010. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Annecy, into the top 30 through a merger
Annecy owes its place among the largest cities in France to its merger on January 1, 2017 with Annecy-le-Vieux, Cran-Gevrier, Meythet, Pringy and Seynod: at a stroke, the prefecture of Haute-Savoie more than doubled its population and its territory, becoming one of the largest "new communes" in the country. Before this merger, Annecy ranked well outside the top 50.
A large city between lake and mountains
Nicknamed the Venice of the Alps for its canals and the Pearl of the Alps for its lake, Annecy is also one of the most attractive cities in France: close to Geneva and its cross-border jobs, less than an hour from ski resorts, home to the headquarters of sports and outdoor companies such as Salomon and Fusalp, and host of the International Animated Film Festival. This appeal comes at a price: one of the tightest housing markets outside Paris, and a density that remains moderate, as the terrain and the lake take up a large part of the town's territory.