* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 49.7 seconds
1 death
Every 50.4 seconds
1 immigrant
Every 5.7 minutes
1 person
Every 5.3 minutes
France also has many territories, including Clipperton Island, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and others.
A law from 1872 prohibits the French Republic from conducting a census by making any official distinction between its citizens in terms of race or religious beliefs, so French demographics can be a bit hard to determine. In 2004, it was estimated that 85% of the population of Metropolitan France was white or of European origin, with 10% from North Africa, 3.5% Black and 1.5% Asian.
This law does not apply to surveys or polls, and a marketing company called Solis estimated numbers of ethnic minorities in 2009 as 5.23% Maghrebis, 2.94% black (a majority from Sub-Saharan Africa) and 0.71% Turkish.
In 2010, 27% of newborns in Metro France had at least a single foreign-born parent. Most French people today are of Celtic origin. The country has experienced large-scale immigration over the last 100 years. It’s believed that 40% of France’s population is descended, at least in part, from the waves of immigration since the start of the 20th century.
In addition, surveys or polls have been used to determine an estimated 63-66% affiliation in Christian based faiths, a 7-9% affiliation with Muslim faiths, a .5-.75% affiliation with Buddhist faiths, .5-.75% affiliation with Jewish faiths, .5-1% affiliation with other faiths, and 23-28% no affiliation or preference to any faith based on 2015 compiled estimates from the World Factbook.
France is one of the least religious countries in the world. According to a 2016 survey from Institut Montaigne, 39.6% claimed no religion. Slightly more than half (51.1%) identify as Christian, 5.6% identify as Muslim, and under 1% (0.8%) are Jewish.
When we compare these numbers to 1986, a few trends become apparent. The percentage of French people identifying as non-religious has exploded in the past 30 years, from 15.5% to nearly 40% today. The other trend is the increasing Muslim population in France. According to a Pew Research Study of Islam in Europe, an estimated 8.8% of the French population is Muslim. This is higher than the estimate from Institut Montaigne, and would be the highest percentage in Europe. The Muslim population is expected to continue its growth in France due to migration, conversion, and high rates of natural increase. Immigration has become an important political issue in France, and this will likely continue moving forward.
Like many of its neighbors, France represents a huge attraction for immigration and when statistics were released in 2008, it was reported that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their immediate descendants were residents in the country; a figure which accounted for around 19% of the total population of the time.
Exact figures in relation to this are slightly hampered by the fact that it is illegal for the French state as an entity to compile statistics when it comes to race and ethnicity. Data in relation to this is therefore supplied by independent agencies such as INED and INSEE.
What is clear however is that France’s population is growing quite significantly. The large discrepancy in the birth and death rate shows no signs of narrowing and as such, it will be fascinating to see the results from the next national census.
During the Middle Ages, France was home to a quarter of the entire European population. This changed in the later centuries, more because of the growth of surrounding nations than a population decline in France. By the 1700s, France was home to 20% of European people, and by the 20th century, they were overtaken by other countries like Germany and Russia. The French population increased significantly during the baby boom following World War II and has experienced fairly steady growth in the years since.
