In Mayotte, nearly one in two inhabitants has foreign nationality

In 2017, 256,500 people live in Mayotte. Since 2012, population growth has been particularly dynamic and has increased (+3.8% per year on average after +2.7% over the period 2007-2012). It is mainly driven by a large excess of births over deaths (+7,700 people per year on average). With 5.0 children per woman in Mayotte, fertility is increasing and still far exceeds the metropolitan average (1.9 children per woman).

The migratory surplus, which has become positive again, also contributes to population growth (+1,100 people per year between 2012 and 2017). On the one hand, many adults and their children are coming from the Comoros. On the other hand, many young people aged 15 to 24, born in Mayotte, leave for the rest of France, mainly in metropolitan France.

As a result of these large and growing flows, the population of foreign nationality is growing strongly: almost half of the population of Mayotte does not hold French nationality, but one third of foreigners were born in Mayotte. In the municipalities of North-East Mayotte around Mamoudzou, population growth is particularly high, with the arrival of many inhabitants from the Comoros Islands. The population of Mayotte remains young: half of the inhabitants are under 18 years of age.

Overall housing comfort has improved less than between 2007 and 2012: four out of ten households still live in Mayotte in sheet metal or vegetable housing, and three out of ten do not have running water.