Over 66 million people were living in France and in four departments overseas to January 1, 2015, according to figures released Wednesday by the INSEE.
La France , excluding Mayotte, had 66,190,280 inhabitants early 2015 , according to INSEE. These figures of “legal people” are up 283 294 inhabitants compared to the data as at 1 January 2014 and published a year ago by INSEE.
Calculated from information collected in the census surveys, final figure includes the departments of Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique and Reunion. Mayotte, officially became the 101st French department on March 31, 2011 is not counted in this total.
According to the National Statistics Institute, in 2015 France had 1.5 million more than in 2010, an average increase of 0.5% per year.
Of the 35,399 communes of France, 261 fewer than 30 inhabitants. One in five people living in one of the 100 most populated municipalities of the country.
Amount of grants based on the number of inhabitants
The numbers of legal people, who will be a decree published in the Official Journal before the beginning of the year 2018, determine the amount of the grant that the state pays to each municipality for its operation, the level of the compensation of municipal councilors, the voting system that applies to municipal elections, or the number of pharmacies that may be established in the town, said INSEE in a statement.
Between 2010 and 2015, 75 departments have seen their population increase. Nevertheless, according to a focus on the county population, changes differ from one area to another depending on the natural movement (births and deaths) and migration (in and out over a territory).
The Ile-de-France, departments overseas, and where major cities are established (Rhône, Bouches-du-Rhône) focus youth. Natural surpluses (more births than deaths) have peaked in Guyana (+ 2.3% natural balance), in the départements or in Reunion (+ 1%).
Deficit in the north and east of France
Conversely, in the departments of central and southwest quarter (Gers, Lot, Charentes), where the population is older, deaths were higher. The natural balance is “particularly deficit” in the Creuse (-0.8%), Nièvre or the Cantal (-0.5%), according to INSEE.
But population changes due to migration “offer an almost mirror image” of the territory, he said.
Thus, the northern departments of France, to the north of the Ile-de-France, Paris included, have experienced more departures than arrivals in their territories, while south of that line, population arrivals were higher.
The contribution of net migration to population growth was particularly strong in Corsica, in Hérault, Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Orientales (over 1% of net migration). Mediterranean border (Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-Maritimes) experienced a slight decline in contrast.
Counting both natural and migratory movements, is in Guyana Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, on the Atlantic coast, in Occitan, Ile-de-France and Corsica as the population grew most strongly in this period.
