Six million foreigners live legally in France, new statistics show. Foreign residents made up just under 9 percent of the French population in 2024 – a proportion that remains below the European Union average.
Most of France's documented foreign residents are immigrants, with 5.1 million born abroad and 900,000, mainly minors, born to foreign parents in France.
According to a report released this week by France's national statistics office Insee, they represent 8.8 percent of France's total population of 68.4 million – below the European average of 9.6 percent.
The proportion is lower than in neighbouring Italy, where foreigners make up 8.9 percent, Spain (13.4 percent), Belgium (13.8 percent) and Germany (14.5 percent).
The figures, which are based on data from the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat, puts France 15th out of 27 EU countries. The top three with the highest percentage of foreigners in their population are Luxembourg (47 percent), Malta (28 percent) and Cyprus (24 percent).
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African residents overtake Europeans
France also has fewer foreign residents from other countries in the EU: 2.3 percent of the total population, compared to the EU-wide average of 3.1 percent.
Foreigners from outside the bloc make up 6.5 percent of France's residents, marginally higher than the EU average of 6.4 percent.
According to Insee, the figures reflect a long-term shift. In 1968, almost 75 percent of foreigners in France came from European countries, while around 25 percent were from African nations.
In 2024, in contrast, nearly half – 46 percent – of foreigners living in France are nationals of African countries, while 35 percent hail from European countries and 13 percent from Asian countries.
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One-third of immigrants naturalised
Some 2.6 million immigrants have acquired French citizenship, according to Insee – a third of all people who moved to France.
That brings France's total foreign-born population to 7.7 million, or 11.3 percent of all residents.
People from African countries were most likely to naturalise, with 37.2 percent of African immigrants acquiring French nationality. Among residents born in Asia, the percentage was 34.8 percent, and for people born in the Americas or Oceania, 31.4 percent.
People from other EU countries were least likely to seek French citizenship – presumably because they already enjoy freedom of work and movement in France without the need to go through immigration procedures.
(with AFP)
