France saw the largest ever single-year increase in its foreign-born population in 2024, the national statistician found, with the vast majority of arrivals coming from Africa.
The number of people living in France who were born abroad increased by 434,000 in 2024, national statistician Insee has found. This boosted the total foreign-born population of France to 7.7 million people, made up of 5.1 million foreigners and 2.6 million foreigners who have been awarded French citizenship since arriving.
Major French broadcaster CNEWS states the rise in the number of people living in France who were born abroad is the largest one-year increase on record, and is “as many as the previous three years combined”.
70 per cent of new residents are from Africa, and this group is also the most likely to go for naturalisation to get a French passport. Insee said: “The nationalities of foreign nationals living in France have diversified over time, reflecting changes in their origins.
“In 1968, nearly three out of four foreigners living in France were nationals of a European country and one in four were nationals of an African country. In 2024, nearly half of foreigners living in France were nationals of an African country and one‑third were nationals of a European country.”
In all, the foreign-born population of France is now 8.8 per cent of all residents. While this may seem high, French radio station RFI notes this is actually below the European Union average at 9.6 per cent, and way above Germany’s level of foreign occupation at 14.5 per cent.
Yet even these figures pale in comparison to what has been achieved in the United Kingdom, which is presently experiencing a years-long period of historically unprecedented mass migration. While 2024 figures are not yet available an “ad hoc estimate” published by the House of Commons Library in the British Parliament states that as of mid-2023, the foreign-born population of England and Wales is “around 18%”.
The last time the United Kingdom had levels of foreign-born population equivalent to France today was way back in 2004, a report by the Migration Observatory at Oxford University states.
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