France, Jan. 13 -- France, which now has 69.1 million inhabitants, recorded more deaths than births in 2025 for the first time since the end of the Second World War,Insee announced in its report released on Tuesday.

As of 1 January 2026, the population increased by 0.25 percent compared with last year, France's national statistics office Insee said on Tuesday.

But for the first time since 1944, this growth is due solely to net migration - the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country - estimated at +176,000 people.

Natural population change, which measures the difference between births and deaths, has now turned negative, at -6,000 people. This situation is explained by two factors: a decline in births an...