According to current projections, France’s population is expected to reach its peak at 67.68 million people in 2045, after which it will decline slowly back down to 65.55 million people by the end of the century.
In the past ten years, France’s population growth rate has decreased significantly to 0.22%. This growth will become even smaller in the coming years until 2045 when population growth becomes negative.
France was once the most fertile country in the European Union; however, its rates are beginning to change. France’s birth rate is 11.2 births per 1,000 people and its death rate is 9.1 deaths per 1,000 people. The fertility rate is 1.850 births per woman, which has been declining in recent years.
France Population Growth
The figures reported in 2011 confirmed that France as a whole was growing at a faster rate than most other countries across the globe. In fact, its natural growth, which excludes any immigration figures, accounted for nearly the whole of the natural growth recorded in the European Union in 2003.
The birth rate exceeded the death rate by a considerable amount -- 302,432 in 2006 which was the highest recorded figure since 1973. Further contrasts in the rates led to the final figures declared in the 2011 census. The country also has the second highest number of children per family in Europe; 2.01 when the last figures were announced.
France Population Projections
Metropolitan France is expected to see its population grow by another 9 million people over the next 40 years, placing the country's population around 72 million by 2050. To reach this projection, fertility rates will need to stay about the same, mortality will need to decrease, and net migration will need to remain about 100,000 annually.
With its population growing despite decreases in many of its neighboring countries, France is finally back in the race to be the most populous country in Europe. By 2050, it's expected that Germany will have just 70-74 million (compared to 2012's 82 million), while Britain's population will be about 73 million, compared to today's 63 million.