Datos demográficos de Francia

Pirámide de población antes y después de la Primera Guerra Mundial

1914

1920

A partir de 1800, la evolución histórica de la población en Francia ha sido atípica en Europa. A diferencia del resto de Europa, no hubo un fuerte crecimiento demográfico en Francia durante el siglo XIX y la primera mitad del siglo XX. La tasa de natalidad en Francia disminuyó mucho antes que en el resto de Europa, en parte porque desde finales del siglo XVIII las leyes de herencia dictaban una distribución equitativa de los bienes entre los herederos. La gran población del país proporcionó a Napoleón un suministro aparentemente ilimitado de hombres para la Grande Armée , pero la tasa de natalidad comenzó a descender a finales del siglo XVIII; ^{[ 22 ]} por lo tanto, el crecimiento demográfico fue bastante lento en el siglo XIX, y el punto más bajo se alcanzó en la primera mitad del siglo XX, cuando Francia, rodeada por las poblaciones de rápido crecimiento de Alemania y el Reino Unido, tuvo un crecimiento prácticamente nulo. El lento crecimiento de la población francesa en el siglo XIX se reflejó en la muy baja tasa de emigración del país.

La población francesa creció solo un 8,6% entre 1871 y 1911, mientras que la alemana creció un 60% y la británica un 54%. ^{[ 23 ]}

La preocupación francesa por el lento crecimiento demográfico del país comenzó tras su derrota en la guerra franco-prusiana . Durante cuatro años en la década de 1890, el número de muertes superó al de nacimientos. La Alianza Nacional para el Crecimiento de la Población Francesa (ANAPF) se formó en 1896, y se crearon el premio Cognacq-Jay y otros galardones para los padres de familias numerosas. La novela de Émile Zola de 1899, Fécondité, es representativa de la preocupación contemporánea por la tasa de natalidad. Francia perdió el 10% de su población masculina activa en la Primera Guerra Mundial; los 1,3 millones de muertes francesas, junto con aún más nacimientos perdidos por la ausencia de padres potenciales en la guerra, provocaron una disminución de 3 millones en la población francesa y contribuyeron a convertir la natalidad en una obsesión nacional; en 1920, la ANAPF contaba con 40.000 miembros, y en julio de ese año se promulgó una nueva ley que regulaba estrictamente el aborto y la anticoncepción. ^{[ 22 ] [ 23 ]}

ANAPF propuso que los padres de familias numerosas recibieran votos adicionales, y la creencia de que el sufragio femenino en otros países había provocado una disminución de la natalidad contribuyó a que se rechazaran las propuestas previas a la Segunda Guerra Mundial para permitir el voto femenino . La tasa de natalidad volvió a descender tras un breve auge de nacimientos entre 1920 y 1923, y alcanzó un mínimo histórico en tiempos de paz a finales de la década de 1930. Durante los «años de escasez» de la década, el número de nuevos reclutas disminuyó debido a la falta de nacimientos durante la Primera Guerra Mundial. A partir de 1935, las muertes superaron a los nacimientos; la prensa debatió ampliamente sobre la disminución de la población del país. Tanto la izquierda como la derecha apoyaron políticas pronatalistas; incluso el Partido Comunista Francés puso fin a su oposición a las leyes anticonceptivas y antiaborto en 1936, y su líder, Maurice Thorez , abogó por la «protección de la familia y la infancia». ^{[ 22 ] [ 23 ]}

Las nuevas leyes de noviembre de 1938 y julio de 1939, el Código de la Familia , proporcionaron suficientes incentivos económicos para que las familias numerosas duplicaran los ingresos de una familia con seis hijos. El gobierno de Vichy aprobó estas leyes y las implementó como parte de su lema «Trabajo, familia, patria nacional», al igual que el Gobierno Provisional de la República Francesa de la posguerra . ^{[ 23 ] [ 22 ] [ 24 ]} Además, Francia fomentó la inmigración, principalmente de otros países europeos como Italia, Polonia y España. (De hecho, con su baja tasa de natalidad, el estancamiento o la disminución de su población nativa y su papel como destino de migrantes de otras partes de Europa, la situación de Francia antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial no era muy diferente a la de Alemania en la actualidad).

Francia experimentó un baby boom después de 1945; revirtió un historial de bajas tasas de natalidad a largo plazo. ^{[ 22 ] [ 26 ]} Sin embargo, la política pronatalista del gobierno de la década de 1930 no explica esta recuperación repentina, que a menudo se presentó en Francia como un «milagro». También fue atípica del mundo occidental: si bien hubo un baby boom en otros países occidentales después de la guerra, el baby boom en Francia fue mucho más fuerte y duró más que en la mayoría de los demás países occidentales (Estados Unidos fue una de las pocas excepciones). En las décadas de 1950 y 1960, la población de Francia creció a un ritmo del 1 % anual: el mayor crecimiento en la historia de Francia, incluso superior a las altas tasas de crecimiento de los siglos XVIII o XIX.

Desde 1975, la tasa de crecimiento demográfico de Francia ha disminuido significativamente, pero aún se mantiene ligeramente por encima de la del resto de Europa, y mucho más alta que a finales del siglo XIX y durante la primera mitad del siglo XX. En la primera década del tercer milenio, el crecimiento demográfico en Francia fue el más alto de Europa, solo superado por el de la República de Irlanda , que, hasta hace poco, también había experimentado históricamente un crecimiento estancado e incluso un declive en relación con el resto de Europa. Sin embargo, el crecimiento demográfico de Francia sigue siendo inferior al de Estados Unidos, debido en gran medida a la mayor tasa de migración neta de este último .

A continuación se compara el tamaño de la población francesa en el pasado, el presente y el futuro con el de otros países de Europa y del mundo. Todas las afirmaciones se refieren a Francia dentro de sus fronteras actuales; esto también aplica a otros países. Los historiadores sugieren que Francia fue el estado más poblado de Europa desde al menos el período de Carlomagno y el Imperio Franco , si no antes, hasta el siglo XIX. Las estadísticas de población anteriores a la era moderna son estimaciones históricas, ya que no se realizaron censos oficiales.

• Hasta 1795, la Francia metropolitana era el país más poblado de Europa, por delante de Rusia, y el cuarto país más poblado del mundo, solo por detrás de China, India y Japón;
• Entre 1795 y 1866, la Francia metropolitana fue el segundo país más poblado de Europa, después de Rusia, y el cuarto país más poblado del mundo, después de China, India y Rusia (habiéndose vuelto más poblada que Japón durante este período);
• Entre 1866 y 1909, la Francia metropolitana fue el tercer país más poblado de Europa, después de Rusia y Alemania;
• Entre 1909 y 1933, la Francia metropolitana fue el cuarto país más poblado de Europa, por detrás de Rusia, Alemania y el Reino Unido;
• Entre 1933 y 1991, la Francia metropolitana fue el quinto país más poblado de Europa, por detrás de Rusia, Alemania, el Reino Unido e Italia;
• En 1991, la Francia metropolitana recuperó su posición como el cuarto país más poblado de Europa, por detrás de Rusia, Alemania y el Reino Unido, superando a Italia . A nivel mundial, la clasificación de Francia ha caído al vigésimo puesto entre los países más poblados.
• En 2005 se proyectó que, si continuaban las tendencias demográficas actuales (es decir, la disminución de la población en Alemania y el ligero aumento en Francia y el Reino Unido), hacia 2050 la Francia metropolitana podría volver a superar la población de Alemania, convirtiéndose en el estado más poblado de la Unión Europea. ^{[ 27 ]} Por el contrario, las proyecciones de la ONU de 2009 indican que el Reino Unido, con un mayor crecimiento, podría ser más poblado que Francia en 2050, dejando a Francia en tercer lugar entre las naciones europeas, por detrás de Rusia y el Reino Unido.

En la lista anterior, Turquía no se considera un país europeo. Turquía era menos poblada que la Francia metropolitana hasta 1992, pero en 2024 era más poblada que Francia, el Reino Unido y Alemania. ^{[ 28 ]}

Las estadísticas demográficas se basan en el CIA World Factbook , salvo que se indique lo contrario.

Tenga en cuenta:

• Las cifras corresponden únicamente a la Francia metropolitana , sin incluir los departamentos y territorios de ultramar , que fueron antiguas colonias y protectorados franceses. Argelia y sus departamentos , aunque formaron parte integral de la Francia metropolitana hasta 1962, no están incluidos en las cifras.
• Para facilitar las comparaciones, las cifras que se proporcionan a continuación corresponden al territorio de la Francia metropolitana dentro de las fronteras de 2004. Este fue el territorio real de Francia entre 1860 y 1871, y nuevamente desde 1919. Las cifras anteriores a 1860 se han ajustado para incluir Saboya y Niza , que solo se incorporaron a Francia en 1860. Las cifras entre 1795 y 1815 no incluyen los departamentos franceses de la actual Bélgica, Alemania, los Países Bajos e Italia, aunque formaban parte integral de Francia durante ese período. Las cifras entre 1871 y 1919 se han ajustado para incluir Alsacia y parte de Lorena , que en ese momento formaban parte del Imperio Alemán.
• Las cifras anteriores a 1801 son estimaciones modernas que no incluyen, para el Imperio Romano, las partes de la Galia que estaban en Alemania, Bélgica, los Países Bajos y Luxemburgo; las cifras a partir de 1801 (inclusive) se basan en los censos oficiales franceses.

Fuente: ^{[ 30 ]}

Fuente: Louis Henry e Yves Blayo. ^{[ 31 ]}

Esperanza de vida en la Francia metropolitana desde 1818 hasta 1950. Fuente: Our World In Data .

Tasa de mortalidad: 9,6 muertes por cada 1.000 habitantes (estimación de 2021).

Estructuras de edad de la Francia metropolitana desde el año 1740 hasta 2021. Fuente: Louis Henry e Yves Blayo. ^{[ 31 ] [ 35 ]}

Edad media (2021 INSEE est. ^{[ 36 ]} )

Total: 41,1 años. Comparación del país con el resto del mundo: puesto 40.

hombre: 39,6 años

mujer: 42,6 años

proporción de sexos

al nacer: 1,05 varones/mujeres

De 0 a 14 años: 1,05 varones/mujeres

15–24 años: 1,05 hombres/mujeres

Entre 25 y 54 años: 1,02 hombres/mujeres

55–64 años: 0,93 hombres/mujeres

Personas de 65 años o más: 0,77 hombres/mujeres

Población total: 0,96 hombres/mujeres (estimación de 2020)

Índices de dependencia

Índice de dependencia total: 62,4

Índice de dependencia juvenil: 28,7

Índice de dependencia de ancianos: 33,7

Relación de soporte potencial : 3 (2020 est.)

Francia tiene una tasa de natalidad elevada en comparación con otros países europeos; esta tasa ha aumentado tras alcanzar un mínimo histórico a principios de la década de 1990.

• Tasa de fecundidad total: 2,01 hijos nacidos por mujer para la Francia metropolitana y los departamentos de ultramar (en 2012), ^{[ 37 ]} 2,00 para la Francia metropolitana sola (en 2010). ^{[ 38 ]}
• Edad media de las mujeres que tienen su primer parto: 29,9 años. ^{[ 39 ]}

La tabla que aparece a continuación muestra el número promedio de hijos según el lugar de nacimiento de las mujeres. Una mujer inmigrante es aquella que nació fuera de Francia y que no tenía la ciudadanía francesa al nacer. ^{[ 40 ]}

En 2021 hubo 11,8 nacimientos/1.000 habitantes. Tasa de fecundidad total (datos de 2020 del INSEE ^{[ 13 ]} ) 1,83 hijos nacidos/mujer.

Edad media de la madre en el primer parto ^{[ 41 ]}

28,5 años (2015)

Se prevé que la población de Francia alcance los 70 millones entre 2025 y 2030, y que supere a la de Alemania entre 2050 y 2060, con 75,6 millones de franceses frente a 71 millones de alemanes en 2060. Se pronostica que el Reino Unido superará a Francia en 2030. Para 2080, se estima que la población de Francia alcanzará los 78,8 millones (incluidos los departamentos de ultramar, pero no los territorios de ultramar).

Cifras de Eurostat para la Francia metropolitana y los departamentos de ultramar: ^{[ 45 ]}

El INSEE contabiliza a las personas nacidas vivas en la Francia continental según el lugar de nacimiento detallado de los padres: ^{[ 57 ]}

Nota: En 2010, algunos extranjeros no declararon su país de origen  : padre – 17.536; madre – 3.754

En 2020, hubo un total de 154.581 matrimonios en Francia. ^{[ 58 ]}

En los últimos años, el comunitarismo se ha vuelto más frecuente en Francia. Algunos suburbios, como La Courneuve, Sarcelles y Toulouse-Le Mirail, están poblados casi exclusivamente por personas del África subsahariana y del norte de África. Estos proyectos de vivienda, construidos por arquitectos como Le Corbusier, Aillaud y Candilis, se han convertido en guetos comunales. ^{[ 59 ]}

El último censo nacional basado en la religión se realizó en 1872, al comienzo de la Tercera República. Después de eso, a excepción del censo antisemita del gobierno de Vichy, el Estado francés dejó de recopilar datos sobre la religión o la etnia de las personas. ^{[ 61 ]} En 1978, una ley prohibió la recopilación de datos individuales sobre la raza, la religión, la afiliación sindical o las opiniones políticas y filosóficas de una persona. ^{[ 62 ]} Sin embargo, se han realizado estimaciones de la demografía étnica y racial del país en la actualidad.

Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of Black Associations of France (French: Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favour of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians,^[63][64] often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harks back to Vichy-era identity documents.^[65] During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy, polled on the issue, stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.^[66] Part of a parliamentary bill that would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.^[67]

However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the INED or the INSEE whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom (CNIL) and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS).^[68]

The modern ethnic French are the descendants of Celts, Iberians, Ligurians, Italic peoples (including Romans), and Greeks in southern France,^[69][70] later mixed with large groups of Germanic peoples arriving at the end of the Roman Empire such as the Franks, Burgundians, Alamanni, and Goths,^[71]Moors and Saracens in the south,^{[72][73][74][75][76][77][78]} and Scandinavians, Vikings, who became, by mixing with the local population, the Normans and settled mostly in Normandy in the 9th century.^[79]

However, genome-wide analyses of both ancient and present-day DNA indicate that the genetic make-up of modern French populations is overwhelmingly derived from groups already living in Gaul during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages; post-Roman inputs from Germanic, Scandinavian, North-African or other peoples account for only minor fractions, invalidating the notion of any massive later admixture.^[80][81][82]

In 1960 there was approximately 500,000 'coloured' people present in France, constituting 1.2% of the population.^[83] In 2004, French conservative think-tank Institut Montaigne estimated that there were 51 million (85%) people of European ethnic origin, 6 million (10%) North African people, 2 million (3.5%) West African and Central African peoples and 1 million (1.5%) people of Asian origin in Metropolitan France, including all generations of immigrant descendants.^[84] TIME magazine in 2009 estimated that there was an estimated range of 4 to 7 million Arabs, 3 to 5 million Africans, 1.5 million Asians and around 600,000 Jewish people.^[85] Solis, a marketing company, estimated the numbers for ethnic minorities (immigrants and 2nd generation) in France in 2009 as 3.26 million Maghrebis (5.23%), 1.83 million black people (2.94%) (1.08 million West Africans and 757,000 French from French West Indies), and 250,000 Turkish (0.71%).^[86][87]

In 2015, Michèle Tribalat released a paper estimating population of ethnic minorities in France in 2011 to constitute 30% if ancestry retracted to 3 generations but with age limit of 60. 15% were of other European origin and another 15% rest.^[88]

Newly released figures from France’s national statistical agency, which pulled census data from 2019–2020, revealed that nearly one-third of children aged four years and below are of non-European origin, a number which stands in sharp contrast with those recorded in older generations.

The data, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), indicates that among those aged four and below living in ordinary housing (all residences excluding those for students, the elderly, and asylum seekers) in metropolitan France, 41.6% were born outside of France themselves, or are descendants of non-French parents or grandparents, with 29.6% having origins outside of Europe.

By comparison, a mere 7.6% of 60 to 64-year-olds and 3.1% of those over the age of 80 were of non-European origin over three generations, meaning they themselves, their parents, or grandparents were born outside of Europe.

Figures also revealed that 16.2% of all children aged four and below living in France are of Maghreb descent—a term used to describe the predominately Arab regions of northwest Africa, including Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, and Tunisia. One in ten children in the same age group in France are immigrants or are the children of immigrants from elsewhere in Europe, with 7.3% having originated from sub-Saharan Africa, 4% from Asia, and 1.7% from the rest of the world.

The Paris region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 45% of people (6 million) living in the region were either immigrant (25%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (20%).^[89]

Of European ethnic groups not indigenous to France, the most numerous are people of Italian family origin and it is estimated that about 5 million citizens (8% of the population) are at least partly of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations.^[90] This is due to waves of Italian immigration, notably during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Other large European groups of non-native origin are Spaniards, Portuguese, Romanians, Poles, and Greeks. Also, due to more recent immigration, between five and six million people of Maghrebi origin^[91] and approximately 800,000 Turks inhabit France.^[92][93]

An influx of Maghrebi Jews immigrated to France in the 1950s and after the Algerian War due to the decline of the French empire. Subsequent waves of immigration followed the Six-Day War, when some Moroccan and Tunisian Jews settled in France. Hence, by 1968, Maghrebi Jews were about 500,000 and the majority in France. As the majority of these new immigrants were already culturally French they needed little time to adjust to French society. Black people come from both the French overseas territories (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, and former colony Haiti) and Sub-Saharan Africa (especially Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal). France has the largest black population in Europe.

There is a substantial Romani population in France. There is approximately 400,000 Roma living in France.^[94]

In the 20th century, France experienced a high rate of immigration from other countries. The immigration rate was particularly high during the 1920s and 1930s. France was the European country which suffered the most from World War I, with respect to the size of its population, losing 1.3 million young men out of a total population of 40 million. France was also at the time the European country with the lowest fertility rate, which meant that the country had a very hard time recovering from the heavy losses of the war. France had to open its doors to immigration, which was the only way to prevent population decline between the two world wars.^[99]

At the time, France was the only European country to permit mass immigration. The other major European powers, such as the UK or Germany, still had high fertility rates, so immigration was seen as unnecessary, and it was also undesirable to the vast majority of their populations. The majority of immigrants in the 1920s came from Italy and Poland, though from the 1930s, some also came from elsewhere in southern and eastern Europe, and the first wave of colonial French subjects from Africa and Asia. This mass immigration was ended and partially reversed by the economic problems of the 1930s.^[100] By the end of the Spanish Civil War, some half-million Spanish Republican refugees had crossed the border into France.^[101]

Local populations often opposed immigrant manpower, leading to occasional outbursts of violence. The most violent was a pogrom against Italian workers who worked in the salt evaporation ponds of Peccais, erupted in Aigues-Mortes in 1893, killing at least nine and injuring hundreds on the Italian side.^[102]

After World War II, the French fertility rate rebounded considerably, as noted above, but economic growth in France was so high that new immigrants had to be brought into the country. Most immigrants were Portuguese as well as Arabs and Berbers from North Africa. The first wave arrived in the 1950s, but the major arrivals happened in the 1960s and 1970s. One million European pieds-noirs also migrated from Algeria in 1962 and the following years during the chaotic independence of Algeria.^[103] France has over three million French of Algerian descent, a small percentage of whom are third-or fourth-generation French.

French law facilitated the immigration of thousands of French settlers (colons in French language), ethnic or national French from former colonies of North and West Africa, India and Indochina, to mainland France. 1.6 million European pieds noirs settlers migrated from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.^[104] In the 1970s, over 30,000 French settlers left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime as the Pol Pot government confiscated their farms and land properties. However, after the 1973 energy crisis, laws limiting immigration were passed. In addition, the country's birth rate dropped significantly during this time.

Between 1956 and 1967, about 235,000 Sephardic North African Jews from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco also immigrated to France because of the decline of the French colonial empire and following the Six-Day War. Hence, by 1968, Sephardic North African Jews were the majority of the Jews in France. As the new immigrants were already culturally French, they needed little time to adjust to French society.^[105]

In the late 1970s, the end of high economic growth in France caused immigration policies to be considerably tightened, starting with laws by Charles Pasqua passed in 1986 and 1993. New immigrants were allowed only through the family reunion schemes (wives and children moving to France to live with husbands or fathers already living in France), or as asylum seekers. Illegal immigration thus developed as immigration policy became more rigid. In 2006, The French Ministry of the Interior estimated clandestine immigrants in France amounted to anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000 and expected between 80,000 and 100,000 people to enter the country illegally each year.^[106]

The Pasqua laws are a significant landmark in the shift in France's immigration policy through the course of the 20th century. They are a sign of the securitization aspect of immigration, giving more power to the police, allowing them to perform random identity checks and deport immigrants without legal papers. The rise in anti-immigration sentiments was reinforced by a series of terrorist bombs in Paris in 1986, linked to Muslim immigrants in France.^[107]

Tightening immigration laws, as well as notions of "zero immigration", reflected national views that arose within the discussion around immigrant family reunification and national identity. Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI) immigration expert, Christophe Bertossi, states that stigmatized as both a challenge to social cohesion and a "burden" for the French economy, family immigration is increasingly restricted and constructed as a racial issue. The "immigration choisie" policy strives consequently to select migrants according to their profile, skills and, still indirectly, origins.^[108][109]

Nonetheless, immigration rates in the 1980s and 1990s were much lower than in the 1960s and 1970s, especially compared to other European countries. The regions of emigrations also widened, with new immigrants now coming from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In the 1970s, a small but well-publicized wave of Chilean and Argentine political refugees from their countries' dictatorships found asylum in France.

Ethnic Vietnamese started to become a visible segment of society after the massive influx of refugees after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The expulsions of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam in the 1970s led to a wave of immigration and the settlement of the high-rise neighbourhood near the Porte d'Italie, where the Chinatown of Paris is located. Located in the 13th arrondissement, the area contains many ethnic Chinese inhabitants.^[110]

According to the distinguished French historian of immigration Gérard Noiriel, in 1989 one third of the population currently living in France was of "foreign" descent.^[111]

According to Michèle Tribalat, researcher at INED, there were, in 1999, approximately 14 million persons of foreign ancestry (about a quarter of the population), defined as either immigrants or people with at least one immigrant parent or grandparent. Half of them were of European ancestry (including 5.2 million from South Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal and former Yugoslavia)). The rest were from Maghreb (3 million), Sub-Saharan Africa (680,000), Turkey (320,000) and other parts of the world (2.5 million).^[112] Immigrants from the Maghreb are commonly referred to as beur, a verlan slang term derived from the word arabe (French for Arab).^[113]

The large-scale immigration from Islamic countries has sparked controversy in France. Nevertherless, according to Justin Vaïsse, in spite of challenges and setbacks like the riots in November 2005, in Parisian suburbs, where many immigrants live secluded from society with very few capabilities to live in better conditions, the integration of Muslim immigrants is happening as part of a background evolution^[114] and recent studies confirmed the results of their assimilation, showing that "North Africans seem to be characterized by a high degree of cultural integration reflected in a relatively high propensity to exogamy" with rates ranging from 20% to 50%.^[115] According to Emmanuel Todd, the relatively high exogamy among French Algerians can be explained by the colonial link between France and Algeria.^[116][117] One illustration of this growing resentment and job insecurity can be drawn from related events, such as the 2005 riots, which ensued in former President Chirac declaring a state of emergency.^[118] Massive demonstrations to express frustration over unemployment took place in March 2009.^[119] The importance of integration was brought to the forefront of the political agenda in Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. Upon being elected, he symbolically created the French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment. Integration is one of the pillars of its political aims.^[120]

In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE is its acronym in French) published a study, according to which the numbers of Spanish, Portuguese and Italians in France had doubled between 2009 and 2012.

According to the French Institute, the increase due to the euro area crisis pushed up the number of Europeans in France.^[9] Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107% between 2009 and 2012, from 5300 to 11,000 people.^[9][123]

Of 229,000 foreigners in France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 4%, Romanians 3%, Belgians 3% and Dutch 2%.^[9]

With the increase of Spanish, Portuguese and Italians in France, in 2012 46% of immigrants were European, while the percentage for Francophone African immigrants reached 30%, of which Moroccans were 7%, Algerians 7%, and Tunisians 3%. Meanwhile, 14% of all immigrants who settled in France in that year were from Asian countries: 3% from China, 2% from Turkey, 10% from America and Oceania, Americans and Brazilians accounting for 2% each.^[9]

As of 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (limited to second-generation born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. More than 5.5 million are of European origin and about 4 million of Maghrebi origin (20% of Algerian origin and 15% of Moroccan or Tunisian origin). Immigrants aged 18 to 50 count for 2.7 million (10% of population age 18–50) and 5 million for all ages (8% of population). The second-generation immigrants aged 18 to 50 make up 3.1 million (12% of 18–50) and 6.5 million for all ages (11% of population).^[95][96] Without considering citizenship at birth, people not born in metropolitan France and their direct descendants made up 30% of the population aged 18–50 in metropolitan France as of 2008.^[124]

The region with the largest proportion of immigrants is the Île-de-France (Greater Paris), where 40% of immigrants live. Other important regions are Rhône-Alpes (Lyon) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Marseille). The most important individual countries of origin as of 2007 were Algeria (702,000), Morocco (645,000), Portugal (576,000), Italy (323,000), Spain (262,000) and Turkey (234,000). However, immigration from Asia (especially China), as well as from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal, Mali) is gaining in importance.

42% of the immigrants are from Africa (30% from Maghreb and 12% from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa), 38% from Europe (mainly from Portugal, Italy and Spain), 14% from Asia and 5% from America and Oceania.^[96] Outside Europe and North Africa, the highest rate of immigration is from Vietnam, Cambodia and Senegal.

The following table shows immigrants and second-generation immigrants by origin as of 2008 according to a study published by Insee in 2012. Third-generation immigrants, illegal immigrants, as well as ethnic minorities like black people from the French overseas territories residing in metropolitan France (800,000), Roms (500,000) or people born in Maghreb with French citizenship at birth (1 million Maghrebi Jews, Harkis and pieds-noirs) and their descendants, who are French by birth and not considered as immigrants or immigrant descendants, are not taken into account.^[125]

Net migration rate 1.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 61st

Immigrants by country of birth as of 2022:^[127]

In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and 13,710 from Europe.^[128] In 2005, immigration levels fell slightly to 135,890.^[129] The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While the UK (along with Ireland and Sweden and non-EU members Norway and Switzerland) did not impose restrictions, France put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.

As at 1 January 2006, INSEE estimated that there were 3.5 million foreigners living in metropolitan France. Two out of five foreigners are from Portugal, Algeria or Morocco. Thus, EU nationals immigrating to France account for 1.2 million people, and 1.1 million people are from the three Maghreb countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Immigrants are concentrated in Île-de-France, Rhone-Alpes, Provence and Côte d'Azur regions, accounting for 60% of the total immigrant population. Furthermore, there appears to be a lower rate of immigrants arriving from the EU since 1975 as opposed to an increase in African immigrants.^[130]

In the first decade of the 21st century, the net migration rate was estimated to be 0.66 migrants per 1,000 population a year.^[131] This is a very low rate of immigration compared to other European countries, the United States or Canada. Since the beginning of the 1990s, France has been attempting to curb immigration, first with the Pasqua laws, followed by both right-wing and socialist-issued laws. This trend is also demonstrated in anti-immigrant sentiments among the public. For example, the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. conducted a public opinion poll in February 2004 among French nationals. This poll measured the extent of support for restricting immigration among French nationals, by age cohort. 24% of individuals 18 to 29 were restricting immigration, with 33% of individuals 30 to 49 and 53% for both 50 to 64 and 65 and over.^[132] Nearly nine years later, a January 2013 poll conducted in France by Ipsos found that 70% of respondents said that there were "too many immigrants in France".^[133]

The immigration rate is currently lower than in other European countries such as United Kingdom and Spain; however, some say it is unlikely that the policies in themselves account for such a change. Again, as in the 1920s and 1930s, France stands in contrast with the rest of Europe. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, when other European countries had a high fertility rate, France had a low fertility rate and opened its doors to immigration to avoid a population decline. Today, it is the rest of Europe that has very low fertility rates, and countries like Germany or Spain avoid population decline only through immigration. In France, however, the fertility rate is still fairly high for European standards. It is, in fact, the highest in Europe after Ireland (the EU) and Albania (perhaps higher than Ireland's) and so most population growth is due to natural increase, unlike in the other European countries.^[134]

The difference in immigration trends is also because the labour market in France is currently less dynamic than in other countries such as the UK, Ireland or Spain. One reason for this could be France's relatively high unemployment, which the country has struggled to reduce for the past two decades. There is also a parallel dynamic between immigration and unemployment. Immigrants tend to be subjected to higher rates of unemployment. In 2008, the immigrant unemployment rate in France was a startling 13%, twice as high as for the national population (6%).^[135] One can further analyse the trend in relation to education. In the ministry's 2010 report on professional inclusion for immigrants, 19.6% of immigrants without any education were unemployed while 16.1% of immigrants who had graduated high school were unemployed. Only 11.4% of immigrants with an undergraduate degree or higher were unemployed.^[136]

For example, according to the UK Office for National Statistics, between July 2001 and July 2004, the population of the UK increased by 721,500 inhabitants, of which 242,800 (34%) was due to natural increase, 478,500 (66%) to immigration.^[137] According to the INSEE, between January 2001 and January 2004 the population of Metropolitan France increased by 1,057,000 inhabitants of which 678,000 (64%) was due to natural increase, 379,500 (36%) from immigration.^[138]

The latest 2008 demographic statistics have been released, and France's birth and fertility rates have continued to rise. The fertility rate increased to 2.01 in 2012^[37] and, for the first time, surpasses the fertility rate of the United States.^[139]