Recent Demographic Trends in France. The Disruptive Impact of COVID -19 on French Population Dynamics: Fewer Births and Marriages, a Downturn in Migration, More Deaths…

On 1 January 2021, the population of France was 67.4 million, 120,000 more than on 1 January 2020. Unlike many European countries, the French population did not decline, but growth slowed sharply due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected all components of population change. Provisional data indicate that the number of residence permits valid for at least 1 year granted to third-country nationals likely fell in 2020 (–10,000), particularly among immigrants from Africa and those entering France for family or humanitarian reasons. Births also fell sharply, with a spectacular dip 9 months after the lockdown. This drop reflects a decrease in the number of conceptions and not an increase in abortions, whose number fell in 2020, notably in the months following the first lockdown. But the two demographic events most affected by the pandemic were marriages, which became impossible because of strict social distancing rules imposed during lockdown (–70,000), and, as expected, mortality. Life expectancy fell by 0.56 years for males and 0.45 years for females, dropping back to the levels observed 6 years previously.

Didier Breton
Nicolas Belliot
Magali Barbieri
Hippolyte d’Albis
Magali Mazuy

France population-long series