Niort Population and Area (Deux-Sèvres)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Niort (Deux-Sèvres)
Niort: Population and Area
With 61,675 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Niort is the 95th most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Deux-Sèvres department, out of 252 communes. It covers 68 km² (575th largest area in France, 11th largest in the department), with a population density of 904 inhabitants per km², or 8.3 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 1,050th in France for density.
Niort is located in the Deux-Sèvres department (79), in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (formerly Poitou-Charentes), where it ranks 8th by population out of 4,293 communes. It is the most populous town in the Deux-Sèvres department, which is home to 385,771 people over 5,999 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Deux-Sèvres department and the regional ranking: largest city in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Towns of similar size in the Deux-Sèvres department: Bressuire (pop. 21,034), Thouars (pop. 14,178), Parthenay (pop. 10,555).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 79191. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Niort, the capital of mutual insurers
The prefecture of the Deux-Sèvres department and its most populous town, Niort grew up on the banks of the Sèvre Niortaise, on the edge of the Marais Poitevin. Its medieval keep, built under the Plantagenets, still towers over the town center.
A major insurance town with a vast territory
The size of Niort is due to a phenomenon unique in France: in the 20th century the town saw the birth of several major mutual insurance companies, including MAIF and MACIF, which have their headquarters there, while MAAF is based in the neighboring town of Chauray. This sector, which employs thousands of people, has earned Niort the nickname of capital of mutual insurers and supports a slightly growing population. A former tanning and glove-making town, Niort has a large territory that takes in neighborhoods of detached houses, farmland and part of the marshland landscape, hence a moderate density for a prefecture of its size.