FRANCE
Past trends
Between 1950 and 1965, the total fertility rate in France remained above 2.7 children per woman,
but later dropped by 40 per cent, from 2.85 in 1960-1965 to 1.72 in 1990-1995. During that period the
life expectancy at birth, for both sexes combined, increased from 66.5 years in 1950-1955 to 77.1 years in
1990-1995. One of the consequences of these changes was that the proportion of the population aged 65
or older increased from 11.4 per cent in 1950 to 15.0 per cent in 1995, while the proportion of the
population aged 15-64 remained nearly constant at nearly 66 per cent. France was the country with the
oldest population at the turn of the century. In 1901 the potential support ratio was 7.8 persons aged 15-
64 for each person aged 65 or older. It declined further to 5.8 in 1950 and to 4.4 in 1995.
Scenario I
Scenario I, the medium variant of the 1998 United Nations projections, assumes a total of
525,000 net immigrants from 1995 to 2020 and none after 2020. It projects that the total population of
France would increase from 58.0 million in 1995 to 61.7 million in 2025, and decline to 59.9 million in
2050 (The results of the 1998 United Nations projections are shown in the annex tables). At that date
525,000 persons (0.9 per cent of the total population) would be post-1995 migrants or their descendants.
The population aged 15-64 would increase from 38.0 million in 1995 to 39.9 million in 2010, and then
decrease to 34.6 million in 2050. The population aged 65 or older would keep increasing, from 8.7
million in 1995 to 15.4 million in 2040, before declining slightly to 15.3 million in 2050. As a result, the
potential support ratio would decrease by nearly half, from 4.4 in 1995 to 2.3 in 2050.
Scenario II
Scenario II, which is the medium variant with zero migration, uses the fertility and mortality
assumptions of the medium variant of the 1998 United Nations projections, but without any migration to
France after 1995. The results are very similar to those of scenario I. The total population of France
would increase from 58.0 million in 1995 to 61.1 million in 2025, and then start decreasing, to 59.4
million in 2050. The population aged 15-64 would increase from 38.0 million in 1995 to 39.6 million in
2010, and then decrease to 34.3 million in 2050. The population aged 65 or older would keep increasing,
from 8.7 million in 1995 to 15.3 million in 2040, before declining slightly to 15.2 million in 2050. As a
result, the potential support ratio would decrease by nearly half, from 4.4 in 1995 to 2.3 in 2050.
Scenario III
Scenario III keeps the size of the total population constant at its maximum of 61.1 million in
2025. In order to do so, it would be necessary to have 1.5 million immigrants between 2025 and 2050, an
average of 60,000 per year. By 2050, out of a total population of 61.1 million, 1.8 million, or 2.9 per
cent, would be post-1995 immigrants or their descendants.
Scenario IV
Scenario IV keeps the size of the population aged 15-64 constant at its maximum of 39.6 million
in 2010. In order to do so, 5.5 million immigrants would be needed between 2010 and 2050, an average of
United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration 31
136,000 per year. By 2050, out of a total population of 67.1 million, 7.8 million, or 11.6 per cent, would
be post-1995 immigrants or their descendants.
Scenario V
Scenario V keeps the potential support ratio at its 1995 value of 4.4. In order to do so, 32.1
million immigrants would be needed from 2000 to 2025, an average of 1.3 million per year, and 60.9
million immigrants from 2025 to 2050, an average of 2.4 million per year. By 2050, out of a total
population of 187 million, 128 million, or 68.3 per cent, would be post-1995 immigrants or their
descendants.
Discussion
As a point of comparison, the official net immigration recorded in France was an average of
76,000 per year for 1990-1994 and an average of 39,000 per year for 1995-1998. Thus, the number of
migrants needed to prevent a decline in the total size of the population (scenario III) would be comparable
to past experience of immigration to France. Furthermore, the number of migrants that would be needed
to keep constant the size of the population in labour-force age (scenario IV) is about double the level
experienced in the early 1990s. In addition, under scenario IV, in 2050 the proportion of post-1995
immigrants and their descendants within the total population (11.6 per cent) would be comparable to the
proportion of foreign-born that exists currently (10.4 per cent in 1990). Figure IV.4 shows, for scenarios
I, II, III and IV, the population of France in 2050, indicating the share that are post-1995 migrants and
their descendants.
However, the number of immigrants needed to keep the potential support ratio at its 1995 level
would be vastly larger than any previously experienced migration flow, 20 to 40 times the annual
numbers of the last 10 years. Furthermore more than two thirds of the resulting population in 2050 would
be composed of post-1995 immigrants and their descendants.
In absence of migration, the figures show that it would be necessary to raise the upper limit of the
working-age to about 74 years in order to obtain in 2050 the same potential support ratio observed in
1995 in France, i.e. 4.4 persons of working-age per each older person past working-age.
32 United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration
TABLE IV.12. POPULATION INDICATORS FOR FRANCE BY PERIOD FOR EACH SCENARIO
Scenario I II III IV V
Medium Constant Constant Constant ratio
Medium variant with total age group 15-64/65 years
Period variant zero migration population 15-64 or older
A. Average annual number of migrants (thousands)
1995-2000 40 0 0 0 842
2000-2025 13 0 0 114 1 282
2025-2050 0 0 59 105 2 301
2000-2050 7 0 29 109 1 792
1995-2050 10 0 27 99 1 705
B. Total number of migrants (thousands)
1995-2000 200 0 0 0 4 210
2000-2025 325 0 0 2 838 32 054
2025-2050 0 0 1 473 2 621 57 530
2000-2050 325 0 1 473 5 459 89 584
1995-2050 525 0 1 473 5 459 93 794
C. Total population (thousands)
1950 41 829 - - - -
1975 52 699 - - - -
1995 58 020 - - - -
2000 59 080 58 879 58 879 58 879 63 310
2025 61 662 61 121 61 121 64 442 105 188
2050 59 883 59 357 61 121 67 130 187 193
D. Age group 0-14 (thousands)
1950 9 498 - - - -
1975 12 594 - - - -
1995 11 326 - - - -
2000 11 047 11 009 11 009 11 009 12 182
2025 10 588 10 495 10 495 11 399 21 788
2050 10 012 9 924 10 393 11 572 38 396
E. Age group 15-64 (thousands)
1950 27 569 - - - -
1975 33 004 - - - -
1995 37 986 - - - -
2000 38 620 38 488 38 488 38 488 41 593
2025 37 686 37 355 37 355 39 625 67 847
2050 34 586 34 282 35 493 39 625 121 047
F. Age group 65+ (thousands)
1950 4 762 - - - -
1975 7 101 - - - -
1995 8 708 - - - -
2000 9 413 9 381 9 381 9 381 9 535
2025 13 388 13 271 13 271 13 417 15 554
2050 15 285 15 151 15 234 15 932 27 750
G. Potential support ratio 15-64/65+
1950 5.79 - - - -
1975 4.65 - - - -
1995 4.36 - - - -
2000 4.10 4.10 4.10 4.10 4.36
2025 2.81 2.81 2.81 2.95 4.36
2050 2.26 2.26 2.33 2.49 4.36
United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration 33
FRANCE
Figure IV.3. Age-sex structures by scenario for 2000, 2025 and 2050
(Population in millions)
Medium variant Constant total population
Age
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
2000
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
2025 50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
2050
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
Population without migration after 1995 Migrants plus descendants
34 United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration
FRANCE
Figure IV.3 (continued)
Constant Constant ratio
age group 15-64 15-64/65 years or older
Age
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50 2000
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
2025
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
100 100
Males Females Males Females
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
2050
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration 35
Figure IV.4. Population of France in 2050, indicating those who are
post-1995 migrants and their descendants, by scenario
80
70
60
Migrants plus
Population (millions)
50
descendants
40
Population
without
30 migration after
1995
20
10
0
I. Medium variant II. Zero migration III. Constant total IV. Constant
population working age
Scenario
36 United Nations Population Division, Replacement Migration
