In 2024, the United Nations estimated 9.2 million immigrants (foreign-born people) in France, representing 13.8% of the total population, making France the second largest foreign born population in Europe after Germany and tied with the United Kingdom. This is an increase from the United Nations statistics in 2015 in which there were 8 million immigrants (foreign-born people) in France, which at the time represented 11.5% of the country's total population. The area with the largest proportion of immigrants is the Parisian urban area (Greater Paris), where almost 40% of immigrants lived in 2012. Other regions with important immigrant populations are Rhône-Alpes (Lyon) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Marseille).
The Paris region is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 45% of people (6 million) living in the region were either immigrant (25%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (20%).Les descendants d'immigrés vivant en Île-de-France , IAU Idf, Note rapide Société, n° 531
Among the 802,000 newborns in metropolitan France in 2010, 27.3% had one or both parents foreign-born, and about one quarter (23.9%) had one parent or both born outside of Europe.Naissances selon le pays de naissance des parents 2010 , Insee, septembre 2011Parents born in overseas territories are considered as born in France. Including grandparents, about 22% of newborns in France between 2006 and 2008 had at least one foreign-born grandparent (9% born in another European country, 8% born in Maghreb and 2% born in another region of the world).Les immigrés, les descendants d'immigrés et leurs enfants , Pascale Breuil-Genier, Catherine Borrel, Bertrand Lhommeau, Insee 2011
In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE) published a study reporting that the number of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian immigrants in France between 2009 and 2012 has doubled. This increase resulting from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period, has pushed up the number of Europeans settled in France. Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107 percent between 2009 and 2012, i.e. in this period went from 5,300 to 11,000 people.
Of the total of 229,000 new foreigners coming to France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 4%, Romanians 3%, and Belgians 3%.
By 2022, the total number of new foreigners coming to France rose above 320,000 for the first time, with nearly a majority coming from Francophone Africa (Former French Colonies). A significant increase in students, family reunification and labor migration occurred under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.
History
The population dynamics began to change in the middle of the nineteenth century, as France joined the Industrial Revolution. The pace of industrial growth attracted millions of European immigrants over the next century, with especially large numbers arriving from Poland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain."Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. III. French Government and the Refugees ". American Philosophical Society, James E. Hassell (1991). p.22. In the wake of the First World War, in which France suffered six million casualties, significant numbers of workers from French colonies arrived. By 1930, the Paris region alone had a North African Muslim population of 70,000.Goebel, Anti-Imperial Metropolis, p. 21.
Large numbers of Belgians emigrated to France in the late-nineteenth century (there were nearly 500,000 Belgians in France in 1886), as well as Italians. The interwar era was marked by the arrival of numerous Poles (500,000 in 1931), Spaniards, Russians and Armenians.
1945–1974 After the Second World War, postwar immigration to France significantly increased. During the period of reconstruction, France experienced labour shortages, and as a result; the French government was eager to recruit immigrants coming from all over Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.
Although there was a presence of Vietnamese in France since the late-nineteenth century (mostly students and workers), a wave of Vietnamese migrated to the country after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords, which granted Vietnam its independence from France in 1954. These migrants consisted of those who were loyal to the colonial government and those married to French colonists. Following the partition of Vietnam, students and professionals from South Vietnam continued to arrive in France. Although many initially returned to the country after a few years, as the Vietnam War situation worsened; the vast majority of Vietnamese decided to remain in France and brought their families over as well.La Diaspora Vietnamienne en France un cas particulier (in French)
This period also saw a significant wave of immigrants from Algeria. Before 1962, Algerians were not restricted, as a result of the 1945 Code of Nationality. In 1954, the Algerian War started, the result of which led to 200,000 Algerian immigrants moving to France."Le film: deux siècles d'histoire de l'immigration en France." http://www.histoire-immigration.fr/histoire-de-l-immigration/le-film However, because of the tensions between the Algerians and the French, these immigrants were no longer welcome. This conflict between the two sides led to the Paris Massacre of 17 October 1961, when the police used force against an Algerian demonstration on the streets of Paris. After the war, after Algeria gained its independence, the free movement between France and Algeria was once again allowed, and the number of Algerian immigrants started to increase drastically. From 1962-75, the Algerian immigrant population increased from 350,000 to 700,000."En 1962, lors de l'Indépendance, ils sont 350 000. En 1975 les émigrants algériens sont 710 000 et constituent le deuxième groupe d'étrangers après les Portugais." "De 1945 à 1975." Many of these immigrants were known as the "harkis," and the others were known as the "pieds-noirs." The "harkis" were Algerians who supported the French during the Algerian War; once the war was over, they were deeply resented in Algeria, and thus sought safety in France. The "pieds-noirs" were European settlers who moved to Algeria, but migrated back to France following Algerian independence in 1962.
Additionally, the number of Pakistani and Japanese immigrants also increased during this period. There was also a great number of students and workers from former French colonies in Africa. In the 1960s, there was a wave of Portuguese, Moroccan and Turkish immigrants.
With this massive influx of immigrants, France became an asylum for refugees. According to the convention in Geneva, refugee status was granted to four out of five overseas applicants. Many of these refugees came from countries in Eastern Europe (i.e. Hungary) and Latin America, because they feared oppression in their countries of origin.
Although the majority of immigrants at this time came from rural regions, only 6% of them were willing to work in agriculture. About two-thirds of the immigrants worked in mining, steel, construction, and automotive industries. Approximately 12% of male immigrants and the majority of female immigrants worked in domestic services, restoration, and commerce (as for French women, a woman working was subject to her husband's authorisation until 1965.) Youth and elderly immigrants usually worked in craftsmanship and small scale trades.
1974–present During the 1970s, France simultaneously faced economic crisis and allowed immigrants (mostly from the Muslim world) to permanently settle in France with their families and to acquire French citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims, especially to the larger cities, living in subsidized public housing and suffering from very high unemployment rates.Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Michael J. Balz, "The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back?" International Migration (2006) 44#2 pp 23–34. Alongside this, France renounced its policy of assimilation, instead pursuing a policy of integration.Sylvia Zappi, "French Government Revives Assimilation Policy", in Migration Policy Institute October 1, 2003
In 1974, France restricted immigration from its former colonies, but immigration from former colonies in the Maghreb and West Africa would end up steadily increasing under the presidencies of Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron. In the late 20th century and in the 21st century, immigration has diversified, with many immigrants originating from Sub-Saharan Africa (922,000 in 2019), Asia (486,000 in 2019) and Latin America. In addition, the enlargement of the European Union has led to more Eastern European immigrants.
According to an Ipsos poll in September 2019, 65% of respondents in France said that accepting migrants did not improve the situation in France and 45% responded that accepting migrants deprived the French of social services.
In 2019, 46.5% of all immigrants were born in Africa, 35.3% were born in Europe, 14.7% in Asia and 5.4% in the Americas and Oceania. In 2020, non-EU citizens had employment rates less than 50% in the southern and southwestern regions of France and in the north and northeastern regions and was above 65% only in the Burgundy region.
The African proportion of both migrants and residents in France is increasing, as by 2022, nearly a majority, 48.2%, of all immigrants living in France come from Africa, 32.3% come from Europe, 13.5% come from Asia and 6% come from the Americas and Oceania. 61.7% of all immigrants living in France come from non-European origins in 2022. By 2022, the total number of new foreigners coming to France rose above 320,000 for the first time, with a significant increase in students, family reunification and labour migration from African and Asian countries happening under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.
A 2023 survey carried out by Jean-Paul Gourévitch for the Contribuables associés association (English: Associated Taxpayers) found that the estimated cost of immigration to France for French taxpayers was of about €53,900,000,000 per year, four times more than the Justice ministry's yearly budget.
In June 2025, the UDR (right) group in the French Parliament, led by Éric Ciotti, called for the creation of a parliamentary commission to calculate the true cost of immigration. Ciotti is demanding a detailed assessment of French spending on health, housing, education, and emergency aid to migrants, as well as their economic contributions.
Origins of immigrants Europeans In 2014, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE, for its acronym in French) published a study on Thursday, according to which has doubled the number of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants in France between 2009 and 2012. According to the French Institute, this increase, resulting from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period, has pushed up the number of Europeans installed in France. Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107 percent between 2009 and 2012, i.e. in this period went from 5300 to 11,000 people. Of the total of 229,000 foreigners arriving to France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 3%, and Belgians 3%.
With the increase of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants to France, the weight of European immigrants reached 46 percent in 2012, while this percentage for African reached 30%, with a presence in Morocco (7%), Algeria (7%) and Tunisia (3%). Meanwhile, 14 percent of all immigrants who settled in France that year were from Asian countries—3% of China and 2% in Turkey, while in America and Oceania constitute 10% of Americans and Brazilians accounted for higher percentage, 2 percent each.