Insee Première · August 2024 · n° 2009

In 2023, one million immigrants born in Asia lived in France

In 2023, 14% of immigrants living in France were born in Asia. With one million immigrants, Asia was the third continent of origin, behind Africa and Europe. 39% of immigrants born in Asia were born in Turkey or Southeast Asia, against 75% in 1968; the number of immigrants from the rest of Asia, particularly from China and South Asia, has been increasing since the 1980s.

While the main reason given by immigrants born in Asia for coming to France is family, one in four mentions insecurity in their country of origin among the reasons that led them to emigrate to France: this reason is given in particular by half of the immigrants born in the Middle East. More and more immigrants from Asia are coming to France to study, in particular almost one in two immigrants from China.

Among all immigrants, those from Asia have the poorest command of the French language when they arrive in France: six out of ten have no command of French at all. Their level of proficiency improves with the length of their stay in France, with the fact of having studied in France, or with the fact of having a France‑born spouse. However, in 2019-2020, 26% of immigrants from Asia whose mother tongue or reference language is not French still reported difficulties in asking for information or for a service in French.