Over 10% of France’s Residents in 2021 Were Immigrants, INSEE Data Show

Such figures have been provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which also points out that the origins of immigrants have diversified in fifty years, after those reaching now France are coming from a wider range of countries, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“Genealogies are diversifying with the mix of unions over generations: among second-generation descendants of immigrants, more than one out of two had only one immigrant parent, and among third-generation descendants of immigrants aged under 60, nine out of ten had only one or two immigrant grandparents,” the statement reads.

The agency notes that immigrants, particularly those from non-European countries, were subject to additional difficulties when planning to work in this country, with an unemployment rate of 13 per cent in 2021 (against 8 per cent for the whole population), lower wages as well as less skilled jobs.

The same noted that their living conditions, including housing conditions and health, are also worse compared to those of the rest of the population, especially immigrants are twice more likely to face financial problems than people with no direct migration background.

According to the agency’s estimations, the situation of the second generation is closer to the one of persons with no direct migration background compared to the situation of immigrants.

“Immigrants’ standard of living is 22 per cent lower than neither that of persons who are neither immigrants nor descendants of immigrants, but this gap is reduced to 19 per cent for descendants of two immigrant parents, as well as to 6 per cent for descendants with only one immigrant parent,” the statement reads.

Still, it notes that some inequalities remain, especially in terms of access to employment as well as housing conditions.

It also noted that descendants of immigrants have more often declared that they have been subject to discrimination compared to the rest of the population, and descendants of non-European origin also declare it more compared to immigrants of the same origins.

In 2019-2020, a total of 25 per cent of descendants of immigrants aged 18-59 confirmed having faced unequal treatment, against 24 per cent of immigrants as well as 14 per cent of the population with no migration background.

A large number of the European Union and European Economic Area countries offer citizenship by descendant, with Spain, Italy and Greece providing the most significant number of citizenships through such a route.

As for France, citizenship by ancestry in this country can be acquired if applicants have at least one parent who had or obtained French citizenship at the time of their birth.