A demographic study released on Thursday has estimated that there are currently seven million immigrants living in France, comprising 10.3 percent of the country’s population.
This represents a substantial increase from 1968, when just 6.5 percent of the population were immigrants. The study, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, was entitled “Immigrants and descendants of immigrants in France”.
In addition, women now represent half (52 percent) of the immigrant population, compared to just 44 percent in 1968.
The report defined immigrants as “a foreigner born abroad”.
Of the seven million immigrants in France, over a third (36 percent) have obtained French citizenship since their arrival. `Among the descendants of immigrants, more than half of second-generation children have only one immigrant parent, while nine out of ten third-generation children have at least one immigrant grandparent.
The origins of France’s immigrant population have changed over time. Fifty years ago, the majority of immigrants came from southern Europe, but today the majority are from the Maghreb, Africa, or Asia.
In 2011, the number of immigrants from Spain and Italy was 543,000, compared to 531,000 in 2021. Meanwhile, individuals from North Africa represent two million people, compared to 1.63 million in 2011. Overall, nearly half of all immigrants in France are from Africa, comprising 3.31 million out of a total of 6.96 million.
The study found that immigration in France is concentrated in major cities, with 20 percent of Paris’s population being immigrants and 32 percent in Seine-Saint-Denis, a popular suburb north of the capital. The study also revealed that immigrants in France are more closely related to religion than the rest of the population, with Islam ranking first.
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