France’s Foreign Population Lags Behind European Neighbors, Insee Study Reveals

In total, six million foreign people reside in the Hexagon, or 8.8% of the French population in 2024. This is the result of a study by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), based on data from the EU statistical office, Eurostat. In detail, there are 5.1 million born abroad and 900,000, mainly minors, born in France. Compared to the rest of Europe, France has fewer foreigners, the European average being 9.6%. Italy reaches a rate of 8.9%, Spain (13.4%), Belgium (13.8%) and Germany (14.5%), specifies the Insee.

France also welcomes fewer non-European foreigners: 2.3% of the population, compared to 2.4% in Italy, 5.3% in Germany and 8.4% in Belgium. "The nationalities of foreign people living in France have diversified over time," the Insee also notes. While in 1968, nearly three out of four foreigners living in France had the nationality of a European country and one out of four had an African nationality, in 2024, nearly half of the foreigners living in France (46%) have the nationality of an African country and one third of a European country, the study shows.

Regarding immigrants, that is to say people born foreign abroad, INSEE specifies that there were 7.7 million in France in 2024, of whom 2.6 million have acquired French nationality. But the annual number of acquisitions of French nationality, among Europeans, has seen a significant decline since the late 2000s. People from Africa (37%) are now in the lead. They are followed by people from Asia (35%).