Insee Première · April 2023 · n° 1945

Migration flows: the number of people entering France was still lower in 2021 than in 2019

Between 1 January 2019 and 1 January 2020, the population residing in France increased by 268,000 people, of which 140,000 were due to the natural balance and 128,000 to the migration balance.

The migration balance of immigrants alone was +182,000 in 2019, after +222,000 in 2018. That of non-immigrants, whether born in France or born French abroad, remained negative, with more people leaving than entering the territory.

In the context of the pandemic, the number of entries in 2021 increased compared to 2020 but remained 13% below its 2019 level. The decline in entries between 2019 and 2021 was greater for non-immigrants than for immigrants.

Half of the immigrants who entered France in 2021 were aged between 19 and 37 when they arrived, and half of those aged 25 and over had a higher education degree by the beginning of 2022.

Women accounted for more than half of new immigrants each year, but their share has been declining since the mid-2010s, while the origins of new immigrants are becoming more diverse.