In
the annual population survey of France conducted by INSEE, the large
number of migrants from the UK has for the first time being listed
as one of the major factors in the increased population within Metropolitan
France. Alongside workers migrating over from the new European member
countries the British wave of immigrants is starting to cause concern.
Chirac noted recently that while the impact on house prices caused
by British purchasers has a benefit for the French it was a shame
that the language of the village cafes was no longer French but
English.
The full-time
British population in France now exceeds 100,000, and as a year
on year percentage growth now is growing faster than the Maghrebian
communities, 46% for Brits, to 15% for North Africans. The second
largest growth is amongst immigrants from the new EU member countries.
The increase
of low cost travel, continual media attention and exposure, the
climate, the distant working potential the internet has made available
and the increasing move towards quality of life have all strengthened
the pull factors for migrants and the cost of living and property
in UK have added to the push factors.
The 2.87% in
population growth now takes Metropolitan France to a population
of 60.2 million people, immigrants now make up approximately 9.6%
of the population. From Insee survey the rates of migration are
in no way linear, in70,000 in 1999, 85,000 new immigrants in 2000,
95,000 in 2001, 100,000 in 2002 , then 55,000 in 2003 and 82,000
this year.
The geographical
impact of the growing population is also changing radically, in
the post war period there has been a strong tendency towards rural
depopulation and a movement from the South to the North. While real
growth can still be seen in the Ile de France region, with 2.85%
growth taking the population of the region to 11,264,000, the overall
pattern is slower growth in the urban North and more rapid growth
in the South. In fact the growth covers all of the old "langue
d'oc" from Bordeaux across to Lyon. The single largest growth
region is the Rhone-Alpes with 10,1% making a total population of
5,893,000 followed by PACA, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur, with a 9.61%
increase bring the total population to 4,666,000, closely followed
by the Languedoc Roussillon with a 7.1% increase bring our population
up 2,458,000. In the Languedoc this
population growth is still concentrated in the Nimes, Lunel, Montpellier
and related coast up past Sete to Agde. In the Aude the population
growth is concentrated on the Carcassonne - Lezignan Corbieres -
Narbonne- Coursan - Gruissan axis but is slowly spreading to the
surrounding villages with many new lotissement project spring up
throughout the villages of Les Corbieres and the Minervois.
Ryanair's expected
announcement of a third route to Carcassonne will further increases
pressure on the Aude.
British
Migrants boost French Population figures in 2004.
Peter Shield, 24th January 2005
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