New research from France’s national demographic institute found immigration has reshaped the country’s population over multiple generations, with non-European migration now making up the majority of recent immigration patterns.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A major demographic study released in France has found that roughly one-third of the country’s population is either foreign-born or descended from immigrants, highlighting the scale of long-term demographic changes reshaping the nation.
The research was conducted by the National Institute of Demographic Studies, known as INED, one of France’s leading public research institutions. Based on interviews with approximately 27,000 people across mainland France between 2019 and 2020, the study described modern France as “a society profoundly marked by long-term immigration.”
According to findings cited by Le Figaro, 13% of France’s population was born abroad, while 11% are children of immigrants and another 10% are grandchildren of immigrants.
Researchers further concluded that 41% of the population now has some connection to immigration through ancestry, marriage, or the marriages of their children.
France’s official policies prohibit the collection of racial or ethnic census data under the country’s longstanding republican doctrine emphasizing colorblind citizenship, making comprehensive demographic analysis difficult. The INED report is considered one of the most detailed efforts to examine the long-term effects of immigration on the country’s population structure.
The study also examined the origins of immigrant populations living in France.
Among immigrants between the ages of 18 and 59, the largest group — approximately 32% — originated from the North African Maghreb region, including countries formerly under French colonial rule. Another 20% came from sub-Saharan Africa, while 16% originated from Asia. Immigrants from other European countries accounted for 28% of the total.
Researchers additionally found that among immigrants who arrived in France after age 16, approximately one in five had either entered illegally or spent time in an undocumented status after arriving in the country.
The report argued that patterns of integration differ substantially between European and non-European populations.
According to the study, “only the descendants of European immigrants follow the expected assimilationist model,” with researchers stating those populations were more likely to gradually distance themselves from ancestral identities and blend into broader French society.
By contrast, the report found descendants of non-European immigrants were more likely to identify with what researchers described as “hyphenated identities” connected to ethnicity, religion, or ancestral background.
“The analysis calls into question a simplistic assimilationist vision which would suggest that relationships with origins become diluted over generations,” the report stated. “The results reveal a dynamic of hybridization and the emergence of ethnicized and racialized identities.”
The findings come amid continuing political debate in France surrounding immigration, integration, secularism, and national identity.
The report also aligns with previous polling on social and religious attitudes among younger Muslims in France. Surveys conducted by the Institut français d’opinion publique, or Ifop, found large percentages of younger French Muslims expressing support for Islamic law over French civil law or favorable views toward Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Ifop previously said some of those findings exceeded “the most pessimistic estimates” regarding long-term integration trends.
Meanwhile, demographic changes have also become a major topic within French politics. Figures on the political left, including presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have increasingly embraced the concept of a “New France” shaped by immigration and multiculturalism.
The INED report described the country’s demographic evolution as “a kaleidoscope whose complexity is continuously expanding,” reflecting what researchers characterized as a continuing transformation of French society across multiple generations.
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