RECENT DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS IN FRANCE. DO MEN AND WOMEN BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY?

On 1 January 2023, the population of France was 68 million, 200,000 more than on 1 January 2022. The number of births decreased in 2022 while deaths increased. Consequently, natural increase dipped to an all-time low, contributing less to population growth than net migration. France was among just six of the 27 European Union member countries with positive natural increase in 2022, but as net migration was quite low, its population growth was half that of the European Union as a whole. In 2021, admissions of third-country nationals requiring a residence permit were higher than in 2020, returning to the level recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the total fertility rate fell to 1.8 children per women, its lowest level in 20 years. That said, fertility should reach replacement level up to the 1992 birth cohort at least. Men have higher fertility than women, mainly because of births beyond age 50. The number of abortions increased between 2021 and 2022, and abortion rates were especially high at ages of peak fertility. The share of medical abortions and of abortions managed by a midwife continued to increase. The number of marriages increased in 2022, among different-sex couples especially, due partly to the catch-up of marriages that could not be celebrated in 2020 and 2021. The number of PACS civil unions fell, however, due to a decrease among different-sex couples, although PACS unions between same-sex couples reached a record high. The age difference between partners fell slightly, but still persists, between male same- sex partners especially. Despite a slowing of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of deaths remained high in 2022. Two flu epidemics and three heatwaves resulted in 45,800 excess deaths. Life expectancy at birth increased in 2022 for both sexes but did not return to its pre-pandemic level. France is still among the Western European countries with the highest gender gap in life expectancy (6 years), although it has been narrowing steadily since 1980.