Demographics of France

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With a total fertility rate of 1.98 (in 2007), France is the most fertile country in the European Union.
With a total fertility rate of 1.98 (in 2007),[1] France is the most fertile country in the European Union.

As of January 1, 2008, 64,473,140 people live in the French Republic.[2] 61,875,822 of these live in metropolitan France,[3] whereas 2,597,318 live in the French overseas departments and territories.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, France's population growth was low compared to its neighbours, and to its past history. However, the country's population sharply increased with the baby boom following World War II. During the Trente Glorieuses (1945-1974), the country's reconstruction and steady economic growth led to the labor-immigration of the 1960s, when many employers found manpower in villages located in Southern Europe and in the Maghreb (or North Africa). French law facilitated the immigration of thousands of colons, ethnic or national French from former colonies of North and West Africa, India and Indochina, to mainland France. 1.6 million European pieds noirs migrated from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.[4] In the 1970s, over 30,000 French colons 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.

Since the 1980s, France has ceased being a country of mass immigration. Meanwhile, the national birth rate, after continuing to drop for a time, began to rebound in the 1990s and currently the country's fertility rate is close to the replacement level. In recent years, immigrants have accounted for one quarter of the population growth - a lower proportion than in most other European countries. According to an INSEE 2006 study, "The natural increase is close to 300,000 persons, a level that has not been reached in more than thirty years. Net migration is estimated at 93,600 persons, slightly more than in 2005." [1]

Contents

[edit] Historical population of metropolitan France

Please note:

  • figures are for metropolitan France only, excluding overseas departments and territories, as well as former French colonies and protectorates. Algeria and its départements, although they were an integral part of metropolitan France until 1962, are not included in the figures.
  • to make comparisons easier, figures provided below are for the territory of metropolitan France within the borders of 2004. This was the real territory of France from 1860 to 1871, and again since 1919. Figures before 1860 have been adjusted to include Savoie and Nice, which only became part of France in 1860. Figures between 1795 and 1815 do not include the French départements in modern day Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, although they were an integral part of France during that period. Figures between 1871 and 1919 have been adjusted to include Alsace and part of Lorraine, which both were at the time part of the German Empire.
  • figures before 1801 are modern estimates; figures from 1801 (included) onwards are based on the official French censuses.
Year Population Year Population Year Population
50 BC 2,500,000 1811 30,271,000 1896 40,158,000
0 5,500,000 1816 30,573,000 1901 40,681,000
120 7,200,000 1821 31,578,000 1906 41,067,000
400 5,500,000 1821 31,578,000 1906 41,067,000
850 7,000,000 1826 32,665,000 1911 41,415,000
1226 16,000,000 1831 33,595,000 1921 39,108,000
1345 20,200,000 1836 34,293,000 1926 40,581,000
1400 16,600,000 1841 34,911,000 1931 41,524,000
1457 19,700,000 1846 36,097,000 1936 41,502,000
1580 20,000,000 1851 36,472,000 1946 40,503,000
1594 18,500,000 1856 36,714,000 1954 42,777,000
1600 20,000,000 1861 37,386,000 1962 46,243,000
1670 18,000,000 1866 38,067,000 1968 49,778,000
1700 21,000,000 1872 37,653,000 1975 52,656,000
1715 19,200,000 1876 38,438,000 1980 54,335,000
1740 24,600,000 1881 39,239,000 1990 56,615,000
1801 29,361,000 1886 39,783,000 1999 58,519,000
1806 29,648,000 1891 39,947,000 2008 61,875,822 (*) [3]

(*) Note:

[edit] After World War II

After World War II, the French fertility rate rebounded considerably, as was explained above, but economic growth in France was so high that new immigrants had nonetheless to be brought into the country. This time the majority of 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. More than 1 million people from the Maghreb immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria (following the end of French rule there)[citation needed]. One million European pieds noirs also migrated from Algeria in 1962 and the following years, due to the chaotic independence of Algeria.[5] This is a vocal point of the current turbulent relationship of France and over three million French of Algerian descent, a small percentage are third-or fourth-generation in France.

In the late 1970s, due to the end of high economic growth in France, immigration policies were considerably tightened, starting with the Pasqua laws passed in the late 1980s. New immigrants were allowed only through the family reunion schemes (wives and children moving to France to live with their husband or father already living in France), or as political asylum seekers. Illegal immigration thus developed. 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. And in the 1970s, a small but well publicized wave of Chilean and Argentine political refugees (see Chilean coup of 1973) found asylum in France.

The large-scale immigration from Islamic countries sparked controversy in France, as some demographers state "the third world Neo-colonization of Europe" might (and had) make France an "outpost of the Arab world". On the other hand, over one million Afro-French (or "black French"), descendants of sub-Saharan African and West Indian immigrants, have enjoyed better cultural and social integration, though some have dealt with issues of racism in French society.[citation needed]

[edit] Today

[edit] Immigrants

As of 2006, the French national institute of statistics INSEE estimated that 4.9 million foreign-born immigrants live in France (8% of the country's population) [2]: The number of French citizens with foreign origins is generally thought to be around 6.7 million [3] according to the 1999 Census conducted by INSEE, which ultimately represents one tenth of the country's population. (Ranked by the largest national groups, above 60,000 persons)

Most of the population from immigrant stock is of European descent (mainly from Italy, Spain, and Portugal as well as Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and the former Yugoslavia) although France has a sizeable population of Arabs and Africans from its former colonies, the proportion of immigrants in France is on par with other European nations such as the United Kingdom (8%) [4], Germany (9%) [5], the Netherlands (18%) [6], Sweden (13%) [7] and Switzerland (19%) [8]. Outside of Europe and North Africa, the highest rate of immigration is from Vietnam, Cambodia and Senegal.

According to Michèle Tribalat, researcher at INED, it is very difficult to estimate the number of French immigrants or born to immigrants, because of the absence of official statistics. Only three surveys have been conducted: in 1927, 1942, and 1986 respectively. According to a 2004 study, there were approximatively 14 million persons of foreign ancestry, defined as either immigrants or people with at least one parent, grandparent, or great-parent emigreé. 5.2 million of these people were from South-European ascendency (Italy, Spain, Portugal); and 3 million come from the Maghreb (North Africa) [6].

In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and 13,710 from Europe.[7] In 2005, immigration level fell slightly to 135,890.[8] The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While the UK (along with Ireland and Sweden ) did not impose restrictions, France put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.

In the 2000s, the net migration rate was estimated to be 0.66 migrants per 1,000 population a year [9]. This is a very low rate of immigration compared to other European countries, the USA 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. The immigration rate is currently lower than in other European countries such as United Kingdom and Spain; however, some say it is doubtful 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 European countries had a high fertility rate, France had a low fertility rate and had to open its doors to immigration to avoid 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, fertility rate is still fairly high for European standards, in fact the highest in Europe after Ireland, and so most population growth is due to natural increase, unlike in the other European countries. This difference in immigration trends is also because the labor market in France is currently less dynamic than in other countries such as the UK, Ireland or Spain, this may even be a more relevant factor than low birth rates (because Ireland has both the highest fertility and the highest net immigration rate in Europe, whereas Eastern European countries such as Poland or Ukraine have both a low fertility and a high net emigration rate, as well as a high unemployment rate).

For example, according to the UK Office for National Statistics, in the three years 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, and 478,500 (66%) to immigration [9]. According to the INSEE, in the three years 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, and 379,500 (36%) to immigration [10].

The latest 2006 demographic statistics have been released, and France's birth and fertility rates have continued to rise. The fertility rate increased to 2.00 and for the first time approaches the fertility rate of the United States. The link for these figures is here: http://www.insee.fr/en/ffc/ficdoc_frame.asp?ref_id=ip1118

[edit] Religion

France has not collected religious or ethnic data in its censuses since the beginning of the Third Republic, but the country's predominant faith has been Roman Catholicism since the early Middle Ages. Church attendance is low, however, and the proportion of the population that is not religious has grown significantly over the past century. A 2004 IFOP survey tallied that 44% of the French people do not believe in God; contrast with 20% in 1947 [10]. A study by the CSA Institute conducted in 2003 with a sample of 18,000 people found that 27% consider themselves atheists, and 65.3% Roman Catholic compared to 67% in 2001[citation needed]. Furthermore 12.7% (8,065,000 people) belonged to some other religion.

There are an estimated 5-6 million Muslims[11], 1 million Protestants, 600-700,000 Jews, 600,000 Buddhists, and 150,000 Orthodox Christians as of 2000 figures[citation needed]. The US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004 .[11] estimated the French Hindu population at 181,312.

These studies did not ask the respondants if they were practicing or how often they did practice if they were active in the laity.

[edit] Fertility

France is said to be experiencing a new baby boom due to the rise in fertility rate and in births.

  • Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born per woman for metropolitan France and the overseas departments (2007), 1.95 for metropolitan France alone.
  • Mean age of women having their first birth: 29.8 years

Source: [12]

The total fertility rates (TFR) for metropolitan France yearwise is given below. (Source: [13])

Year Births TFR Year Births TFR
1960 819,951 2.73 1995 729,609 1.71
1964 877,800 2.91 1996 734,300 1.73
1970 850,381 2.47 1997 726,800 1.73
1971 881,284 2.49 1998 738,100 1.76
1972 877,506 2.41 1999 744,800 1.79
1973 857,186 2.30 2000 774,782 1.87
1974 801,218 2.11 2001 770,945 1.88
1975 745,065 1.93 2002 761,630 1.86
1980 800,376 1.95 2003 761,464 1.87
1985 768,431 1.81 2004 767,816 1.90
1990 762,407 1.78 2005 774,355 1.92
1991 759,100 1.77 2006 796,800 1.98
1992 743,700 1.73
1993 711,600 1.66
1994 711,000 1.66
Year Births TFR Year Births TFR

The table below gives the average number of children according to the place of birth of women. An immigrant woman is a woman who was born outside of France and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Source - French-Wikipedia

Average number of children in France
(1991-1998)		 Average number of children in country of origin
(1990-1999)
All women living in metropolitan France 1.74
Women born in Metropolitan France 1.70
Immigrant women 2.16
Women born in overseas France 1.86
Immigrant women (country of birth)
Spain 1.52 1.23
Italy 1.60 1.24
Portugal 1.96 1.49
Other EU 1.66 1.44
Other Europe 1.68 1.41
Algeria 2.57 3.64
Morocco 2.97 3.28
Tunisia 2.90 2.73
Other Africa 2.86 5.89
Turkey 3.21 1.92
Other Asia (Mostly China) 1.77 2.85
The Americas and Oceania 2.00 2.54

[edit] Languages

Main articles: Languages of France and French language

[edit] Education

Main article: Education in France

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)[citation needed]

[edit] Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook

[edit] Population

total: 63,713,926
note: 60,876,136 in metropolitan France (July 2007 est.)

[edit] Age structure

0-14 years: 18.6% (male 6,063,181/female 5,776,272)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 20,798,889/female 20,763,283)
65 years and over: 16.2% (male 4,274,290/female 6,038,011) (2007 est.)

[edit] Median age

total: 39 years
male: 37.5 years
female: 40.4 years (2007 est.)

[edit] Population Growth Rate

0.588% (2007 est.)

[edit] Birth rate

12.91 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

[edit] Death rate

8.55 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

[edit] Net migration rate

1.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

[edit] Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.002 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.708 male(s)/female
total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

[edit] Infant mortality rate

total: 3.41 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

[edit] Life expectancy at birth

total population: 80.59 years
male: 77.5 years (2007 est.) [12]
female: 84.4 years (2007 est.) [12]

[edit] Total fertility rate

1.98 children born/woman (2007 est.)

[edit] HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.4% (2003 est.)

[edit] HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

120,000 (2003 est.)

[edit] HIV/AIDS - deaths

less than 1,000 (2003 est.)

[edit] Nationality

noun: Frenchman (for males) and Frenchwoman (for females)

[edit] Ethnic groups

As officially stated by the French government and 2001 French Census reports on the ethnological origins of the French people. Note the French government does not officially classify people by race or ethnicity, in order to encourage integration, assimilation and patriotic unity of all French people regardless of ethnic and national origins as policy since the French Revolution.

The modern French are descendants of 3 major division of "racial" or ethnological groups of white Europeans: Indigenous Celts known as the Gaul and the term "Gallic" of French pride, the Romans from the Italian Peninsula who brought in the Latin-based French language, and finally the Franks of West Germanic origins will established the Frankish kingdom, later known as France.

Ethnic groups residing in Metropolitian France:

Celtic and Latin with Germanic, Slavic, Other European (Greek, Armenian and Turkish), North African (Arab, Berber and Jewish), Indochinese (Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian), Black African, Black Carribean, Hispanic (Latin) American and Basque minorities.

Overseas departments and territories: Black African, white European, mulatto (mixed race), East Indian, Chinese, Malagasy (Reunion and Mayotte), Amerindian (French Guyana), Melanesian: Kanak and Futunan (New Caledonia) and Polynesian: Tahitian and Marquesan (French Polynesia).

An estimate of 10-15 million French citizens or about one-fifth of the population is of ethnic or national non-French origins. The largest of such groups are Germans, Greeks, Italians, Portuguese, Poles; and later waves of North Africans (has risen to about 6.5 million) of Arab-Berber background.

[edit] Religions

Note they are estimates in the 2001 French Census, since the French government forbids collective data of individuals' religious faith.

Roman Catholic 51 %- despite the presence of Catholicism for over 1,500 years, unaffiliated (either Agnostic and Atheist) 31%, Muslims 4% -the second largest religion in France, Protestant (Calvinist, Lutheran, Anglican and Evangelical) 3%, Jewish 1% - the largest post-WWII European Jewish community, Eastern Orthodox (Greek and Armenian) 1%, Eastern religions (Hindu and Buddhist) 1% introduced to France, and pagan 1%- rapid growth of Neo-Pagan religions of Celtic rites [13]

Overseas departments and territories: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan and atheist.

[edit] Languages

French 100%, rapidly declining regional languages and their several dialects (Franco-Provençal, Occitan, Breton, Catalan, Picard, Alsatian, Poitevin, Saintongeais, Corsican, Basque, Burgundian, West Flemish...)

overseas departments: French, Créole patois adjective: French

[edit] References

  1. ^ INSEE, Government of France. Table F8 - Total fertility rate and reproduction rate (per 100 women), France. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  2. ^ a b INSEE, Government of France. Bilan démographique 2007 : des naissances toujours très nombreuses. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. (French)
  3. ^ a b INSEE, Government of France. Population totale par sexe et âge au 1er janvier 2008, France métropolitaine. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. (French)
  4. ^ For Pieds-Noirs, the Anger Endures
  5. ^ On French immigrants, the words left unsaid
  6. ^ Michèle Tribalat's 2004 study for the INED
  7. ^ Inflow of third-country nationals by country of nationality
  8. ^ Immigration and the 2007 French Presidential Elections
  9. ^ UK Office for National Statistics estimate
  10. ^ INSEE pdf estimates
  11. ^ In 2003, the French Ministry of the Interior estimated the total number of Muslims as 5-6 milions whereas the "Front National" spoke about 8 millions, in Jonathan Laurence and Justin Vaïsse,Intégrer l'Islam, Odile Jacob, 2007
  12. ^ a b INSEE, Bilan démographique 2007 - Mortalité
  13. ^ As per a CSA Study (Dec 2006)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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