Paris, Rennes, Toulouse… Which French cities attract the most?
Focus on the demographic evolution in France. Insee published its study on the country’s demography on January 17. Main conclusions: the French are having fewer children and the population is increasing more slowly than before. RTL reviewed the institute’s latest analyzes to find out which regions had the most people.
First lesson: the French continued to settle in the big cities, more than 400,000 inhabitants. About 3% of the country’s municipalities concentrate nearly 29% of the population. Nearly one in three French people and lives. It is not really the famous lodging in the countryside that one could imagine.
Paris remains by far the most attractive city. First, in number of inhabitants. It was in 2014 and it still is because Île-de-France concentrates a quarter of the country’s jobs. But intramural Paris lost inhabitants. According to INSEE, the capital is losing 0.06% of inhabitants at an annual rate. And that’s new compared to 2014. Cost of living, stress, pollution, traffic problems, real estate prices… All of this pushes families towards the suburbs or even further.
The French seduced by the south
The most dynamic cities for 10 years are Rennes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Montpellier where the increase is greater than 1% per year. But we also see the appearance at a slightly more modest rate, around 0.2% per year, of agglomerations which often had a somewhat austere industrial image such as Grenoble, Saint-Étienne, Rouen, where real estate is quite affordable. .
If we look at another INSEE study which makes a projection until 2070, the Paris region still holds because the head offices remain in the capital but the Île-de-France is stable in terms of population. On the other hand, the French are moving strongly towards the south, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Pays-de-la-Loire. And this movement of population, gently, it is not exile, is rather good news for our economy.
The job market is more dynamic
It means that the French are a little more mobile. Which was really a weak point in our industry and our labor market. In 2014, a French employee, even when he was unemployed, did not change region.
What has changed in people’s minds? First the lack of manpower. Companies are ready to make efforts to attract a profile in another region. Like financing the move, that’s good, after the Covid a lot of French people wanted a change of scenery. And if the job market is dynamic, it is also easier to go as a couple. Finally, the telework also allows you to move away from the Parisian headquarters while continuing to work for your company.
There have been an effect “medium-sized cities less than 2 hours from Paris” after the Covid, it’s undeniable. But if we look at the INSEE projections, we can clearly see that the rural departments will continue to lose inhabitants. By 2070, one in three regions will lose inhabitants. Everything will therefore be concentrated around the very large cities. And in 64 departments, so two thirds, we will have one inhabitant in three who will be 65 years old and over.