Analysing migratory flows between France and the rest of the world in the period 2006-2013 - Increased mobility

According to the latest demographic study (published in January 2015), net migration in France was +33,000 in 2013. The figure was +112,000 in 2006. This balance is the result of migratory flows between France and the rest of the world involving three categories of people living in France: those born in France, immigrants and people born in other countries with French nationality. The aim of the analysis presented here is to quantify all such migratory movements over the period 2006-2013. In addition to analysing net migration, generally achieved by comparing census data with civil registry information, this method uses successive census figures to estimate the flow of people into the country and, by extension, the flow of people out of the country. The number of people born in France leaving the country has increased since 2006, while the (smaller) number of people returning showed little variation over this period. Net migration in this category is negative, and doubled over the period in question: it is estimated at -120,000 for 2013, compared with -60,000 in 2006. Meanwhile the number of immigrants arriving in France has increased, but less rapidly than the number of immigrants leaving the country, to the extent that net migration of immigrants is estimated at +140,000 for 2013, a slight decrease on the corresponding figure for 2006 (+164,000). Finally, the incoming and outgoing flows of people born with French nationality in other countries are smaller; net migration in this category was +13,000 in 2013. The recent increase in people born in France leaving the country has served to boost the French international diaspora: in 2013, just under 3.5 million people born in France lived elsewhere in the world.