Immigration to Île-de-France

2022 Paris Region (Île-de-France)[1]
Country/territory of birth Pop.
Algeria 350,939
Morocco 271,884
Portugal 217,280
Tunisia 144,884
Ivory Coast 78,105
Mali 75,435
China 75,175
Senegal 69,709
Turkey 69,281
Italy 58,787
Democratic Republic of Congo 54,091
Romania 53,305
Cameroon 51,111
Sri Lanka 46,621
Congo 46,013
Spain 44,294
Haiti 37,548
Vietnam 36,073
India 33,770
Poland 33,235
Cambodia 29,132
Lebanon 26,183
Republic of Guinea 23,757
Serbia 23,643
Pakistan 22,954
Brazil 22,840
Madagascar 22,791
Russia 20,847
Germany 20,255
United States 18,729
Mauritius 18,617
Colombia 18,123
United Kingdom 17,636
Comoros 16,231
Mauritania 14,306
Belgium 14,242
Japan 10,571
Angola 9,610
Canada 5,600
 Switzerland 5,551
Netherlands 4,922
Australia 2,561
Other countries of Africa 129,277
Other Asian countries 119,666
Other European countries 54,047
Other countries in America 40,432
Other EU countries 34,836

The Île-de-France is a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe. As of 2006, about 35% of people (4 million) living in the region were either immigrant (17%) or born to at least one immigrant parent (18%).[2] In 2020-2021, about 5 million people, or 41% of the population of Île-de-France, are either immigrants (21%) or have at least one immigrant parent (20%), these figures do not include French people born in Overseas France and their direct descendants.[3]

If the region, primary seat of French political and economic power for centuries, has always attracted immigrants, modern immigration can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century when France emerged as an immigration destination[4] with Eastern European Jews fleeing persecutions, and Southern Europeans (mostly Italians) and Belgians seeking better economic conditions. During the first half of the 20th century, immigrants were mostly Europeans, but after decolonisation, and during the French post-war economic boom, many immigrants came from former French colonies (chiefly the Maghreb and West Africa). At the 2010 census, 23.0% of the total population in the Île-de-France region were born outside of Metropolitan France, up from 19.7% at the 1999 census.[5]

Among these people born outside Metropolitan France, 1,611,989 were immigrants (see definition below the table), making up 14.7% of the region's total population.[6] INSEE estimated that on 1 January 2005, the number of immigrants in the region had reached 1,916,000, making up 16.7% of its total population.[7] This is an increase of 304,000 immigrants in slightly less than six years.

According to a study in 2009, nearly 56% of all newborns in the region in 2007 had at least one parent originated from sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, Maghreb or Overseas departments and territories of France.[8]

People under 18 of foreign origin

In 2005, 37% of young people under 18 had at least one immigrant parent in Île-de-France, including a quarter of African origin (Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa).[9][10]

People under 18 of Maghrebi, sub-Saharan and Turkish origin became a majority in several cities of the region (Clichy-sous-Bois, Mantes-la-Jolie, Grigny, Saint-Denis, Les Mureaux, Saint-Ouen, Sarcelles, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Aubervilliers, Stains, Gennevilliers and Épinay-sur-Seine). Young people of Maghrebi origin comprised about 12% of the population of the region, 22% of that of département of the Seine-Saint-Denis district, and 37% of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. In Grigny, 31% of young people are of sub-Saharan origin.[11]

In the département of Seine-Saint-Denis (population 1.5 million), 57% of people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, including 38% of African origin.

% people under 18 (2005) Paris Seine-Saint-Denis Val-de-Marne Val-d'Oise France
All origins 41.3% 56.7% 39.9% 37.9% 18.1%
Maghreb 12.1% 22.0% 13.2% 13.0% 6.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa 9.9% 16.0% 10.8% 9.1% 3.0%
Turkey 0.6% 2.7% 1.2% 3.1% 1.4%
South Europe 4.0% 4.0% 5.5% 4.8% 2.6%
Place of birth of residents of Île-de-France
(at the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990, 1999, and 2010 censuses)
Census Born in Île-de-France Born in the rest of
Metropolitan France
Born in
Overseas France
Born in foreign
countries with French
citizenship at birth
[a]
Immigrants[b]
2010 56.2% 20.8% 1.8% 3.5% 17.7%
from Europe from the Maghreb[c] from the rest of Africa from the rest of the world
4.9% 5.2% 3.5% 4.1%
1999 55.4% 24.9% 1.8% 3.2% 14.7%
from Europe from the Maghreb[c] from the rest of Africa from the rest of the world
5.1% 4.3% 2.2% 3.1%
1990 54.1% 26.3% 1.9% 3.7% 14.0%
1982 52.7% 28.4% 1.7% 3.9% 13.3%
1975 51.7% 31.2% 1.0% 3.9% 12.2%
1968 52.1% 33.2% 0.5% 4.0% 10.2%
^a Persons born abroad of one or two French parents, such as Pieds-Noirs, children of French expatriates, and children of dual-citizens.
^b An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
^c Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
Source: INSEE[12][13][14]

Notes and references

  1. ^ "IMG1B - Population immigrée par sexe, âge et pays de naissance en2022 − Recensement de la population – Résultats pour toutes les communes, départements, régions, intercommunalités... −Étrangers - Immigrés en 2022 | Insee". www.insee.fr. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  2. ^ Les descendants d'immigrés vivant en Île-de-France Archived 2011-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, IAU Idf, Note rapide Société, n° 531
  3. ^ https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/6793282?sommaire=6793391 Localisation des immigrés et des descendants d'immigrés., retrieved 5 May 2023
  4. ^ Large and dynamic economy with high human rights standards (and extensive social benefits after 1945) and a tradition of assimilation, France has widely been seen as a magnet for immigrants
  5. ^ "Fichier Données harmonisées des recensements de la population de 1968 à 2010" (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  6. ^ "IMG2 – Lieux de naissance à l'étranger selon la nationalité". INSEE (in French). Government of France. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  7. ^ "Tableau de synthèse sur le nombre d'étrangers et d'immigrés" (XLS). INSEE (in French). Government of France. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  8. ^ Bardakdjian-Michau J, Bahuau M, Hurtrel D, et al. (January 2009). "Neonatal screening for sickle cell disease in France". J. Clin. Pathol. 62 (1): 31–3. doi:10.1136/jcp.2008.058867. PMID 19103855.
  9. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Revue Commentaire, juin 2009, n°127
  10. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Les yeux grands fermés, Denoël, 2010
  11. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Immigration et démographie des pays d’accueil, in Christophe Jaffrelot et Christian Lequesne L'Enjeu mondial, Presses de Sciences Po | Annuels 2009, pages 29 à 35
  12. ^ INSEE. "Fichier Données harmonisées des recensements de la population de 1968 à 2010" (in French). Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  13. ^ INSEE. "IMG1B – Les immigrés par sexe, âge et pays de naissance" (in French). Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  14. ^ INSEE. "D_FD_IMG2 – Base France par départements – Lieux de naissance à l'étranger selon la nationalité" (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-06-26.