Insee Première · January 2024 · n° 1979

1.2 million more vacant homes in France since 1990, particularly in declining population areas

In 2023, France excluding Mayotte had 3.1 million vacant homes, representing 8.2% of the housing stock.

Since 1990, the number of vacant homes has increased by almost 1.2 million, a rise of 60%. Most of this increase occurred from 2005 onwards, averaging 2.5% per year. The number of vacant housing units therefore increased 2.3 times faster than the total number of housing units between 2005 and 2023. Vacancy has increased in almost all French departments, except in Corse and Hérault. It has increased more rapidly in departments where it was already high.

The proportion of vacant homes is highest in the most sparsely populated areas, outside the functional areas of towns and cities, and in areas with fewer than 200,000 inhabitants. In contrast, it is lower in the functionnal areas of the most populated towns and cities, in areas where the population is growing, and in areas renowned for their tourist attractiveness. Within the functional areas of towns, regardless of their size, vacancy is higher on average in the central municipality than in the other municipalities of the cluster or those on the outskirts.