Seven million immigrants lived in France in 2021, i.e. 10.3% of the population, according to a demographic study published on Thursday, which for the first time in a decade examines the evolution of immigration over several generations, writes AFP.

“10.3% of the French population was born abroad, compared to 6.5% in 1968,” writes the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research (INSEE) in a document titled “Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants in France.”

More than a third (36%) of these people acquired French citizenship upon arrival.

Among the offspring of immigrants, more than 50% of second-generation members have one immigrant parent, while nine out of ten third-generation members (who have at least one immigrant grandparent) have only one or two immigrant grandparents.

Half of the immigrants come from Africa

The origin, however, is diverse. If fifty years ago immigrants came mainly from southern Europe, today they come mainly from the Maghreb, Africa or Asia.

Thus, immigrants from Spain and Italy numbered 543,000 in 2011 compared to 531,000 in 2021, while North Africans now number 2 million people compared to 1.63 million in 2011.

Overall, almost half of all immigrants in 2021 come from Africa (3.31 million out of 6.96).

Women now make up half (52%) of this population (44% in 1968).

According to the study, immigration is concentrated in large urban agglomerations, with 20% of Paris’ population being immigrants and 32% in Saint-Saint-Denis, a working-class suburb north of the capital.