Data released this Tuesday (13) by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee, its French acronym) showed that the European country recorded more deaths than births in 2025, the first time this has occurred since the end of the Second World War.
According to information from Radio France International (RFI), Insee reported that France’s population reached 69.1 million inhabitants last year, an increase of 0.25% compared to the previous year, but this was due to migration: the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country was estimated at 176 thousand people.
On the other hand, the difference between births and deaths was -6 thousand people; Ten years ago, the so-called natural balance had become positive for 200,000 people in France.
“What is striking is how, in just a few years, the natural balance has fallen due to the rapid decline in the birth rate,” said Sylvie Le Minez, head of demographic and social studies at Insee, at a press conference.
According to the study, in 2025, 645 thousand children will be born in France, 2.1% less than in the previous year and the lowest level since the end of the Second World War for the fourth consecutive year.
The fertility rate stood at 1.56 children per woman, the lowest level since the end of the First World War.
At the other end, 651,000 people died in France in 2025, an increase of 1.5% compared to 2024, influenced by the seasonal flu epidemic “particularly virulent in January”, according to Insee.
“Considering the retirement of the large generations born in the 1960s, tensions in the labor market and workforce problems are likely to increase rapidly in the coming years,” said economist Philippe Crevel, from the Cercle d’Epargne think tank, in an interview with Reuters.
