French population growth is slowing down. From 2014 to 2020, the population grew, on average, by only 0.3% per year, compared to 0.5% between 2009 and 2014, according to a note from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies ( Insee) published Thursday, December 29, which estimates the population of France (excluding Mayotte) at 67,162,000 inhabitants on 1is January 2020.
The most dynamic regions in terms of demographics are Guyana (+ 2.1% per year on average), Occitanie (+ 0.7%), as well as the Pays de la Loire (+ 0.6%) and Brittany (+0.5%). On the other hand, Normandy and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté saw their population decrease very slightly, by 0.1% over the six years studied (2014-2020).
According to the INSEE census, twenty-one departments recorded a decline of at least 0.2% in their population. “For the most part, they are located in the northeast quarter, the Center and the Massif Central, note l’Institut. Conversely, strong population growth is concentrated in a smaller number of departments than before, around Paris, along the Atlantic coast, in the South and the Rhone corridor. »
Growth driven by urban spaces
Demographic dynamics also differ depending on the type of territory. The population is growing twice as fast in urban areas (+0.4%) as in rural areas (+0.2%). This growth breaks down into two subsets:
- the natural balance, which is the difference between births and deaths. This indicator explains most of the demographic growth in large urban centres, but also the decline in populations in rural housing, which is very dispersed (− 0.3% per year, due to a deficit of births compared to deaths );
- the apparent migratory balance, which is calculated by the difference between the people entering and leaving the territory (the movement of people with foreign countries for the national level, but also the local migrations when we reason at the level of the departments or regions). In the INSEE study, this apparent balance is estimated by the difference between the total variation and the natural balance. Counterintuitively, the apparent migratory balance is almost nil in the cities, and even negative in the large urban centres, whereas it contributes to increasing the population of the towns (+0.4%).