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A little more inhabitants but fewer babies: since the start of the year, France has had nearly 68.4 million inhabitants, a further increase of 0.3% over one year, however limited by a marked decline of the birth rate.
As of January 1, 2024, 68,373,000 people lived in France, including 66.1 million in mainland France and 2.2 million in the five overseas departments, according to data published Tuesday by INSEE.
A growing population…
As in 2022, the population increased by 0.3%, a growth rate which slows compared to +0.4% in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and +0.5% in 2017 and 2018.
This population growth is mainly linked to net migration (estimated at +183,000 people), i.e. the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the territory.
It was also driven by the natural balance of the population, namely the difference between the number of births and deaths.
This balance, which amounted to +47,000 people, has however reached its “lowest level since the end of the Second World War“, specifies the National Institute of Statistics in this annual demographic report.
A situation which is mainly explained by the decline in births, faster than that in deaths.
…but fertility in decline
In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in the country, 6.6% less than the previous year, which corresponds to the lowest number of births in one year since 1946.
This decline in the birth rate is mainly due to the drop in the fertility rate, which stood at 1.68 children per woman last year, compared to 1.79 in 2022.
It had decreased each year between 2015 and 2020, after having fluctuated around two children per woman between 2006 and 2014.
In 2023, this fertility rate declines for women of all ages, including those aged 30 or over, “not or little affected by the decline in fertility“before the health crisis.
“There are undoubtedly many factors at play.“, commented Sylvie Le Minez, head of the demographic studies unit at INSEE, at a press conference. She cites for example “the economic context of high inflation” and the issue of “reconciliation between family life and professional (life)” which could put some people off having children.
In a press release, the National Union of Family Associations (Unaf) believes that a “universal family policy articulating measures favorable to the standard of living and the balance between family and professional life“would constitute”an effective solution” in the face of this decline in the birth rate.
France, however, remained in 2021 (latest possible comparison) the most fertile country in the European Union, with 1.84 children per woman, according to Eurostat.
Life expectancy is increasing
In 2023, INSEE records 631,000 deaths, a number down 6.5% compared to 2022, a year marked by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and episodes of extreme heat.
In 2023, summer heatwaves were “significantly less deadly”.
As for life expectancy at birth, it has increased significantly to stand at 85.7 years for women (+0.6 years) and 80 years (+0.7) for men, a first .
Since the mid-1990s, it has grown less quickly for women than for men, thus reducing the gap between the two sexes.
Regarding the age pyramid, on January 1, 2024, 21.5% of inhabitants were 65 years old or over.
This proportion has been increasing for more than thirty years, points out INSEE. And the aging of the population has accelerated since the mid-2010s, with the arrival at these ages of large baby boom generations.
At the start of the year, those under 15 represented 17% of the population.
Note, 242,000 marriages were celebrated in France last year, including 235,000 between people of different sexes and 7,000 between people of the same sex. The number of marriages is stabilizing at the high level of 2022, which is partly explained by a catch-up of unions postponed during the pandemic, according to INSEE.
The number of Pacs is also at a high level (210,000), like the previous year.