France data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about France's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of France?
France had an estimated 69.1 million inhabitants on 1 January 2026, 0.25% more than a year earlier, according to INSEE's Bilan démographique 2025, published on 13 January 2026. INSEE's home page rounds the same estimate to 69.08 million. People aged 65 and over make up 22% of the population, almost the same share as under-20s.
The figure covers all of France, including the overseas departments. It is an estimate built from the census and from births, deaths and a provisional migration balance, so INSEE revises recent years when new census results arrive. In 2025 deaths (651,000) exceeded births (645,000), the first negative natural balance since the end of the Second World War, so population growth now comes from net migration.
What are the income tax rates in France?
French income tax on 2025 income, paid in 2026, is charged at 0% up to €11,600 per share, 11% from €11,601 to €29,579, 30% from €29,580 to €84,577, 41% from €84,578 to €181,917 and 45% above that, according to the Service-Public.fr guide to the income tax scale (checked by the service on 15 April 2026). The scale was set by the Finance Act for 2026.
The bands apply to taxable income divided by the household's number of shares (the quotient familial), which depends on marital status and children, so the same income can be taxed very differently. Social levies such as the CSG are separate from these rates. The official impots.gouv.fr simulators calculate a household's tax.
What is the inflation rate in France?
Consumer prices in France rose 3.0% in the year to September 2026, according to INSEE's provisional consumer price index release of 30 September 2026. On the EU harmonised index (HICP), used to compare euro area countries, the rise was 3.4%. Energy prices were up 21.2% on a year earlier, against 2.2% for services.
The September figure is a flash estimate: INSEE says final results are due on 15 October 2026, and the October flash estimate on 30 October 2026. The national CPI and the HICP differ mainly in health spending, which the HICP counts net of social security reimbursements. Rents, pensions and contracts are indexed on final, not provisional, indices.
How much is France's national debt?
French general government debt was €3,595.5 billion at the end of June 2026, or 119.0% of GDP, up from 117.5% at the end of March, according to INSEE's quarterly Maastricht debt release of 29 September 2026. Net debt, which subtracts cash and some financial assets, was 111.4% of GDP.
The Maastricht measure is the gross debt of the state, local authorities and social security funds at face value, the definition used under EU rules. For 2025 as a whole, INSEE's annual public accounts give a deficit of €152.5 billion, 5.1% of GDP, and debt of 115.7% of GDP. Quarterly figures can be revised for several quarters; the next release is due on 18 December 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in France?
The ILO unemployment rate in France was 8.3% in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.2 points on the quarter and 0.7 points on a year earlier, according to INSEE's Labour Force Survey release of 7 August 2026. INSEE says this is the highest rate since the third quarter of 2020, though 2.2 points below the mid-2015 peak.
The rate comes from INSEE's household survey and counts people without work who are available and actively looking, by the International Labour Organization definition. It is different from the number of jobseekers registered with France Travail, which is published separately and is higher. From this release the figures include Mayotte. The third-quarter figure is due on 10 November 2026.
What is the minimum wage (SMIC) in France?
The French minimum wage, the SMIC, is €12.31 gross an hour, €1,867.02 gross a month and €22,404.20 gross a year for a 35-hour week, according to Service-Public.fr, the government information service, in a page checked on 1 June 2026. It gives the net amounts after employee contributions as €9.74 an hour and €1,477.93 a month, for information only.
The SMIC applies to employees aged 18 and over in mainland France and the overseas departments, with a separate rate for Mayotte. Young workers with under six months' experience in their sector can be paid less: €11.08 an hour at 17 and €9.85 at 16 or under. The SMIC is revalued each January and also automatically when inflation passes a set threshold.
What is the average salary in France?
Private-sector employees in France earned an average of €2,730 net a month in full-time equivalent in 2024, according to INSEE's key figures on wages, published in January 2026. Managers averaged €4,630, office and service workers €1,940 and manual workers €2,050.
The median is lower: INSEE's study Les salaires dans le secteur privé en 2024 reports that half of private-sector employees earned less than €2,190 net a month, 19.9% below the mean. Net means after employee social contributions but before income tax. Adjusted for inflation, the average net wage rose 0.8% in 2024, which INSEE says barely restored its 2019 level. Public-sector pay is published separately.
What is France's GDP growth rate?
France's GDP was unchanged (0.0%) in the second quarter of 2026 after falling 0.2% in the first quarter, according to INSEE's detailed quarterly accounts of 28 August 2026. INSEE puts the carry-over growth for 2026 at 0.3%, and household purchasing power per consumption unit fell 0.6% in the quarter.
Quarterly growth is the change in real GDP from the previous quarter, seasonally and working-day adjusted. Early estimates move: INSEE's first estimate for the same quarter, a month earlier, showed growth of 0.2% after -0.1%. Carry-over is what annual growth would be if GDP stayed flat for the rest of the year. Third-quarter detailed results are due on 27 November 2026.
What is the interest rate in France?
France uses the euro, so its policy interest rates are set by the European Central Bank. The ECB's key interest rates page shows a deposit facility rate of 2.50%, a main refinancing rate of 2.65% and a marginal lending rate of 2.90%, in effect from 16 September 2026. That followed a rise to 2.25% on the deposit rate from 17 June 2026, after a year at 2.00%.
The deposit facility rate is the one the ECB uses to steer its policy. Mortgage and loan rates charged by French banks are different, and the Banque de France publishes them in its Webstat database, along with French government bond yields.
How many immigrants live in France?
8.0 million immigrants lived in France in 2025, 11.6% of the population, according to INSEE's key figures on immigrants and foreigners, updated in June 2026. 2.6 million of them, a third, had acquired French nationality. The foreign population, a different group, was 6.3 million, or 9.1%.
INSEE defines an immigrant as a person born a foreign national abroad and living in France; the status is kept after naturalisation. Foreigners are residents without French nationality, including 1.0 million born in France. INSEE warns that a change in census collection means figures for 2024 and 2025 are not directly comparable with earlier years. Residence permits and asylum figures are published by the Interior Ministry, not INSEE.
What is the poverty rate in France?
15.4% of people in mainland France, 9.8 million, lived below the poverty line in 2024, according to INSEE's key figures on poverty, published on 9 July 2026. The line was €1,337 a month for a single person and €2,807 for a couple with two children under 14.
The poverty line is set by convention at 60% of median living standard, so the rate is a measure of relative income poverty: it can rise when median incomes rise. The figure excludes people living in institutions and the overseas departments. INSEE's historical series gives the rate at other thresholds, such as 50% of the median, back to 1975.
What is the life expectancy in France?
Life expectancy at birth in France was 85.9 years for women and 80.3 years for men in 2025, according to INSEE's Bilan démographique 2025. It rose even though deaths increased 1.5% to 651,000, a rise INSEE links partly to a severe winter flu epidemic.
These are period figures: the average lifespan of a newborn if that year's death rates by age stayed the same for life. They are provisional and are revised as final death records arrive. The World Bank also publishes a combined figure for both sexes for international comparison, which can differ slightly because of its methods and timing.
What is the birth rate in France?
645,000 babies were born in France in 2025, 2.1% fewer than in 2024 and 24% fewer than in 2010, according to INSEE's Bilan démographique 2025. The total fertility rate fell to 1.56 children per woman, from 1.61 in 2024, which INSEE describes as the lowest since the end of the First World War.
The total fertility rate is the number of children a woman would have if she experienced that year's birth rates at each age throughout her life; about 2.1 is needed to replace a generation without migration. The 2025 figures are provisional. INSEE also publishes monthly birth counts, which give earlier signals for 2026.
How many MPs are there in France?
The French National Assembly has 577 deputies, according to the Assemblée nationale, which lists each one with their constituency, group and voting record. Its political groups page lists the groups of the 17th legislature, from Rassemblement National and Ensemble pour la République to La France insoumise and the Socialists, and publishes their current membership.
Deputies are elected for five years in single-member constituencies over two rounds, unless the Assembly is dissolved early. A group needs at least 15 members. Group sizes change during a term as deputies move, so check the date of any seat count. The Senate, the upper house, has its own members and figures at senat.fr. The Assembly's open data site has deputies, votes and amendments as downloads.
Are house prices falling in France?
Prices of existing homes in France fell 1.0% in the second quarter of 2026 and were 0.8% lower than a year earlier, according to the Notaires-INSEE house price index published on 8 September 2026. Apartment prices were almost flat on the quarter (-0.1%) while house prices fell 1.3%.
The index covers sales of existing homes (not new builds) recorded by notaries, adjusted for the mix of properties sold, and the latest quarter is provisional and seasonally adjusted. Figures exclude Mayotte. The next release, for the third quarter, is due on 24 November 2026. For individual sale prices, the tax authority's open DVF data lists recorded transactions by address.
Source guides
- INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies)
- Banque de France and the European Central Bank
- Légifrance (official legislation and case law)
- Annuaire des entreprises and the national company register
- CADA (Commission for Access to Administrative Documents)
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.