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The last INSEE census was published, and the French are more and more numerous: 66,988,403, to be precise. Behind these data are hidden disparities, which could diminish with the crisis.
France had 66,988,403 French people in 2019, according to the last official census published by INSEE. If the population has not stopped growing since 1975, in ten years the increase slowed down, due to a lower birth rate. Since 2013, most of the territories have gained inhabitants. Others, like Hauts-de-France, have a stable population. Three territories, including Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Guadeloupe, have lost inhabitants.
In detail, some departments, such as Gironde or Upper Corsica, have seen their population increase, unlike Paris. In cities, demographers often see an exodus of city dwellers, who move to the countryside. 45 million French people now live in urban areas, against 22 million in rural areas. the Covid-19 could, however, reduce the imbalance. “Something quite fundamental has happened in the labor market with the introduction of teleworking, which may have triggered choices for new locations”, explains Valérie Roux, head of the Demography department at INSEE.