Demographic trends in 2012: population growth continues, but at a more moderate pace

On 1 January 2013, 65.8 million people were living in France, of whom 63.7 million in metropolitan France (mainland + Corsica). Population growth slowed in 2012. The number of births stabilized at 822,000, but the number of deaths, at 571,000, was considerably higher than in 2011 owing to greater mortality, particularly at the start of the year. As a result, the natural increase is the weakest recorded since 2003. The total fertility indicator held steady at 2.01 children per woman. The mean age at first childbearing, which has been on an continuous uptrend, reached 30.1 years. After substantial gains in 2011 for both sexes, life expectancy at birth dipped 0.2 years to 84.8 years for women and remained stable at 78.4 years for men. The number of marriages, on a steady downtrend for a decade, rose slightly in 2012. The mean age at first marriage continued to rise, reaching 31.9 years for men and 30.1 years for women.