France recorded a negative natural population balance in 2025 for the first time since the end of World War II, as deaths exceeded births, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
INSEE estimated France’s population at 69.1 million on Jan. 1, 2026, an increase of 0.25 percent from the previous year.
About 645,000 babies were born in 2025, a 2.1 percent decline from 2024 and the fourth straight year in which France posted its lowest annual birth total since the war.
Deaths rose to 651,000, up 1.5 percent from the previous year, driven in part by a severe winter influenza epidemic early in 2025.
The imbalance resulted in a natural population deficit of 6,000, INSEE said.
Life expectancy in 2025 reached 85.9 years for women and 80.3 years for men, according to the agency.
