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Immigration in France 2026: Statistics and Key Figures

France had about 7.97 million immigrants in 2025, or 11.6% of its population of 68.85 million (provisional INSEE figure), and 6.30 million foreign nationals (9.1%) (INSEE series). In 2024, 7.99 million people were descendants of immigrants, 12% of the population in ordinary housing (INSEE). In 2025 France issued 384,230 first residence permits and received about 151,665 asylum applications (AFP via Le Petit Journal).

This page collects the main official and published figures on immigration in France. It uses French national statistics (INSEE), Interior Ministry data and parliamentary sources. For forward-looking numbers, see population projections.

Key figures

Figure Value Year Source
Immigrants in France 7.97 million, 11.6% of the population (provisional) 2025 INSEE series
Immigrants, excluding Mayotte 7.615 million, 11.2% (provisional) 2024 INSEE
Foreigners (non-French nationals) 6.30 million, 9.1% 2025 INSEE series
Immigrants who are French citizens 34%, about 2.6 million 2024 INSEE
Descendants of immigrants (second generation) 7.99 million, 12% 2024 INSEE
Third generation 10% of people aged 18–59 2019–2020 INSEE Première 1910
First residence permits issued 384,230 (up 11% on 2024) 2025 AFP via Le Petit Journal
Asylum applications about 151,665 (down 3.7%) 2025 AFP via Le Petit Journal
Naturalisations 62,235 (down 6.8%) 2025 AFP via Le Petit Journal
Removals executed (all types) 24,985, of which 15,569 forced 2025 AFP via Le Petit Journal
AME beneficiaries 465,208 end 2024 LCP
Total fertility rate 1.56 children per woman 2025 INSEE
Net migration +176,000 (estimate) 2025 INSEE
Total population about 69.1 million on 1 January 2026 INSEE

Definitions: immigrant, foreigner, descendant

These three terms are often confused. INSEE uses the following definitions:

Many descendants have only one immigrant parent: 55% of second-generation descendants do (INSEE). Many descendants also have one French-born parent, and they are French citizens. This is why "immigrant", "foreigner" and "person of immigrant origin" give different totals.

How many immigrants live in France?

France had about 7.97 million immigrants in 2025, which is 11.6% of the population. The long annual INSEE series, which includes Mayotte, gives 7.749 million (11.3%) for 2024 and 7.970 million (11.6%) for 2025, against a total population of 68.85 million (INSEE series). INSEE's November 2025 publication, which excludes Mayotte, gives 7.615 million (11.2%) for 2024, flagged as provisional (INSEE).

A series break matters here. INSEE states that an improved census collection protocol makes counts before 2024 not directly comparable with 2024 and 2025. The apparent rise from about 6.93 million (10.2%) in 2022 to 7.62 million (11.2%) in 2024 is therefore partly a statistical correction, not a one-year surge (INSEE series).

Long-run trend (share of population)

Year Immigrants (thousand) Share of population
1931 2,729 6.6%
1975 3,887 7.4%
1999 4,374 7.3%
2010 5,514 8.5%
2020 6,750 10.1%
2022 6,925 10.2%
2024 (provisional) 7,615 11.2%

Source: INSEE. The share was stable at 7.3–7.4% from 1975 to the late 1990s and has risen since. Between 2014 and 2024 the immigrant population grew 2.5% a year on average, against 0.3% for the whole population (same source).

How many foreigners live in France, and how many immigrants are French citizens?

France had 6.297 million foreign nationals in 2025 (9.1% of the population) and 6.046 million (8.8%) in 2024 (INSEE series). About one third of immigrants, 34% or roughly 2.6 million people, hold French nationality (INSEE).

The gap between 9.1% foreigners and 11.6% immigrants exists for two reasons. Some foreigners were born in France, and many immigrants have been naturalised.

Where do immigrants in France come from?

Africa is the largest region of birth, with 48.1% of immigrants, followed by Europe with 31.3% (INSEE, 2024, excluding Mayotte). The table below gives the detail.

Origin Thousand Share of immigrants Median age
Africa (total) 3,665 48.1% 45
of which Maghreb 2,242 29.4% 48
of which other African countries 1,424 18.7% 40
Asia (total) 1,106 14.5% 44
Europe (total) 2,386 31.3% 52
of which Southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Portugal) 1,086 14.3% 60
America and Oceania 458 6.0% 41

Source: INSEE. Between 2014 and 2024 growth was fastest for African countries outside the Maghreb (5.3% a year). The number of Southern European immigrants fell (0.6% a year), because that group is ageing (same source).

How many descendants of immigrants live in France?

INSEE counts 7.987 million descendants of immigrants in 2024, or 12% of the population in ordinary housing. By parents' region of origin: Africa 3.742 million (46.9%), Europe 2.947 million (36.9%), Asia 832,000 (10.4%), America and Oceania 361,000 (4.5%). The median age is 18 for descendants of African-origin immigrants and 50 for descendants of European-origin immigrants (INSEE).

Adding the 2024 figures for immigrants and second-generation descendants gives about 15.6 million people, about 23% of the population. This sum is a calculation from INSEE figures, not an INSEE headline number.

What about the third generation and mixed unions?

The INED/INSEE survey Trajectoires et Origines 2 (2019–2020) found that 10% of people under 60 are third generation. Nine in ten of them have only one or two immigrant grandparents, and European origins make up the largest share (INSEE Première 1910). INSEE corrected this publication on 23 February 2023, so the corrected page should be cited.

In the same survey, 66% of second-generation descendants live with a partner who has no direct migratory ancestry, against 27% of immigrants (INSEE Première 1910). This is a main reason experts disagree on how to classify people of mixed ancestry.

What share of France is Muslim?

There is no official figure, because French law bars questions on religion in the census. Three estimates exist, and they use different age ranges and methods.

Estimate Result Population covered Source
INSEE/INED TeO2, 2019–2020 10% Muslim (29% Catholic, 10% other religions, 51% no religion) Ages 18–59, self-declared INSEE
IFOP, November 2025 about 7% Population aged 15 and over IFOP
Pew Research Center, 2016 5.7 million, 8.8% Total population Pew

The 10% and 7% figures differ because of age range, question wording and sampling. Neither is a census. Critics of the IFOP survey questioned its method, including how it sampled recent arrivals with limited French (TSA Algérie). These figures describe survey responses, not any individual's beliefs or behaviour.

How many residence permits, asylum applications and naturalisations are there each year?

In 2025 France issued 384,230 first residence permits (titres de séjour), up 11% on 2024, according to Interior Ministry figures published on 27 January 2026. Excluding British nationals the figure is 376,364 (AFP via Le Petit Journal).

Category of first permit, 2025 Number Change
Students about 118,000 n/a
Humanitarian 92,600 up 65%
Economic 51,190 down 13%

Morocco (36,100) and Algeria (28,000) were the largest nationalities among new permit holders. Valid permits stood at 4.47 million on 31 December 2025, up 3.2% (Le Petit Journal; Europe 1). Exceptional regularisations fell 10% to 28,610 in 2025, and naturalisations fell 6.8% to 62,235 (Le Petit Journal).

How many people apply for asylum in France?

About 151,665 asylum applications were registered in 2025, down 3.7%. The top origins were Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, with about 11,500 each (Le Petit Journal). The Senate counts more than 145,000 first applications at OFPRA, down 5%. The two counts differ in scope (Sénat).

Two protection rates are published, and they measure different things:

The appeals court (CNDA) registered 60,065 appeals in 2025, up 6%. It issued 53,086 decisions, down 14%. In all, 87% of OFPRA rejections were appealed (Sénat).

What share of removal orders (OQTF) are carried out?

Between about 10% and 16% of removal measures are executed, depending on the year and the count used. An OQTF (obligation de quitter le territoire français) is an order to leave France.

Reference Orders issued Executed Rate
2022 (Cour des comptes, January 2024) 134,280 OQTFs (153,042 removal measures) 15,400 departures; 11,406 removals, of which 7,214 forced near 10% (Cour des comptes)
2025 (ministerial answer) 156,180 removal measures 24,985, of which 15,569 forced about 16% (calculated here)

Sources: Public Sénat on the Cour des comptes; Assemblée nationale; Le Petit Journal. Executions rose 15.7% in 2025 and forced removals rose 21%.

An Assemblée nationale note adds context. France issues far more OQTFs than neighbouring countries, about 130,000 a year against about 60,000 in Germany, because French law requires an OQTF for any irregular stay. This lowers the apparent execution rate (Assemblée nationale).

How many people live in France irregularly?

There is no official count, and the Interior Ministry says the number cannot be known precisely. In October 2025 Minister Laurent Nuñez said the order of magnitude used was close to 700,000 (Assemblée nationale, QG 922). Treat the commonly cited range of 400,000–700,000 as a contested estimate, not a measurement.

State medical aid (Aide médicale d'État, AME) is sometimes used as a lower-bound proxy, because it covers people in irregular situations who meet conditions. It had 465,208 beneficiaries at the end of 2024, up 2% on 456,689 in 2023 and compared with 180,415 in 2003. Spending reached EUR 1,256 million in 2024 (LCP; Quotidien du Pharmacien).

Are immigrants more likely to be unemployed?

The unemployment rate for immigrants aged 15–64 was 8.3% in 2024, against 5.2% for non-immigrants, according to the Interior Ministry. The rate was 5.5% for immigrants from the EU and 8.9% for those from outside the EU (Ministry of Interior). Another INSEE series, using a different base, gives 11.2% for immigrants and 6.5% for people born in France with no migratory ancestry in 2023 (Observatoire des inégalités). The two series are not comparable with each other.

What is the birth rate of immigrants compared with the French-born?

Foreign-born women had a fertility rate of 2.3 children in 2021, against 1.7 for French-born women (INSEE Références). Among women born in 1960–1974, completed fertility was 2.35 for immigrants, 1.86 for women without migratory ancestry and 1.90 for descendants of immigrants (INSEE Première 1939). The second generation is therefore close to the level of women without migratory ancestry.

Nationally, the total fertility rate fell to 1.56 in 2025 from 1.61 in 2024. There were about 645,000 births and about 651,000 deaths, a natural balance of about minus 6,000, the first negative balance since the Second World War. Net migration was estimated at +176,000 (INSEE bilan démographique 2025).

Where do immigrants live in France?

Immigrants are concentrated in the Paris region. Île-de-France has 20.7% immigrants, against 10.3% for metropolitan France (Ministry of Interior). In Seine-Saint-Denis, the 2022 census recorded about 528,400 immigrants, 31.4% of the department's population, ahead of Val-de-Marne (18.6%) and Hauts-de-Seine (16.8%) (INSEE). INSEE's page on the localisation of immigrants and descendants gives more detail (INSEE).

What are the limits of these statistics?