World · France · Questions

INSEE: official statistics for France

INSEE (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) is France's national statistics office. It publishes the consumer price index, the ILO unemployment rate, quarterly national accounts, the Maastricht public debt, the census and population estimates, wages, poverty and the Sirene business register. Most releases are in French, with a smaller English site.

Release calendar

What it publishes

Consumer price index (IPC) and the EU harmonised index (IPCH), with a flash estimate at the end of each month and final results mid-month.
Quarterly national accounts: GDP, household purchasing power, savings and business margins.
The ILO unemployment rate and employment indicators from the quarterly Labour Force Survey (enquête Emploi).
Quarterly and annual public finance figures: Maastricht debt and the general government deficit.
The census, annual population estimates and the yearly demographic report (Bilan démographique) on births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy.
Wages, income, living standards and poverty, and the Notaires-INSEE house price index.
The Sirene register of businesses and establishments.

Key datasets

Consumer price index releases
Monthly inflation for France, CPI and HICP, with breakdown by product group.
Updated: Monthly (flash and final)
Quarterly national accounts
GDP growth, household purchasing power, savings ratio and business margin rate.
Updated: Quarterly (first estimate and detailed results)
ILO unemployment
Unemployment rate and count, employment rate and labour market slack.
Updated: Quarterly
Maastricht debt time series
General government gross debt from Q4 1995, by sub-sector.
Updated: Quarterly
Bilan démographique 2025
Population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility, life expectancy and marriages.
Updated: Annual (January)
L'essentiel sur la pauvreté
Poverty rate, poverty line and intensity of poverty, with data download.
Updated: Annual

APIs and downloads

INSEE API portal
APIs for the BDM time-series database (SDMX), Sirene and local data; free registration required.
Melodi data catalogue
Catalogue of INSEE datasets with CSV downloads.
BDM time series (example: CPI)
Each series has its own page with download and an identifier (idbank) usable in the API.

When it publishes

INSEE publishes economic indicators at 7:30 or 8:45 Paris time on dates set in advance. Each release page states the next publication date. Inflation appears twice a month (flash estimate at month end, final mid-month); unemployment, GDP and debt are quarterly; the demographic report comes out in January.

How to use it to check a claim

Check whether an inflation figure is the national CPI or the HICP, and whether it is the flash estimate or the final result.
For unemployment, separate the INSEE ILO rate from France Travail's count of registered jobseekers, which is larger and measured differently.
For GDP, check whether a claim uses the first estimate or the later detailed results, which can revise the figure.
For debt, check whether the figure is gross Maastricht debt or net debt, and the quarter it refers to.
Check geography: some series are mainland France only (poverty), others include the overseas departments, and some now include Mayotte.
Note breaks in series, such as the census collection change that affects immigrant counts from 2024.

Common mistakes

Quoting the monthly flash inflation estimate as final.
Comparing the poverty rate with countries that use a different poverty line.
Treating 'immigrants' and 'foreigners' as the same group.
Adding quarterly GDP growth rates to get an annual figure instead of using annual accounts or carry-over.

Does INSEE publish in English?

Partly. INSEE has an English site with the main indicators and some publications, but most detailed releases, tables and documentation are only in French.

What is the Sirene register?

Sirene is the national register of businesses and their establishments that INSEE manages. Each business has a SIREN number and each establishment a SIRET number. The register is free to search and download as open data.

How often is the French census taken?

France runs a rolling census: municipalities with under 10,000 inhabitants are surveyed once every five years in turn, and larger ones survey 8% of dwellings each year. INSEE publishes legal populations each year from the combined results.

Questions answered using this source

Links checked 14 October 2026. This page describes what the source publishes and gives no verdict on any claim.