This is nothing new: every year, the population is decreasing in the French capital. As usual, on December 19, INSEE published its annual report confirming that the decline continues. If on January 1, 2021, the capital had 2 133 111 inhabitantsas of January 1, 2022, a drop of 0.9% (i.e. 19,406 inhabitants) was recorded, with 2 113 705 inhabitants remaining. There have been few such significant declines in recent years.
An increasingly significant decrease
The observation is clear: this somewhat drastic reduction is neither due to a drop in births or an increase in deaths. It seems that Parisians leave voluntarily the capital. In the space of eleven years, Paris has experienced a decrease of almost 6%. Moreover, according to the latest data from INSEE, “ Paris thus knows the second largest population declineas a percentage, among municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants », just after Mulhouse. If the average annual rate of change was -0,54 % over the period 2011-2016, over the period 2016-2022, it is -0,59 % for Paris. Over this same period, Mulhouse experienced a drop in -0,63 %.
The exponential cost of living called into question
The capital gradually empties of its inhabitants and the reasons which explain this are multiple. On the front line, we obviously find difficulties and cost of housing which are constantly increasing. Between the lack of rental properties, the explosion in the number of unoccupied homes, and prices too high to enable the purchase — between €9,298 and €10,665 per square meter depending on the FNAIM —, Parisian real estate seems to be caught in a vicious circle that discourages residents from staying there. According to a study conducted by Statista in 2021, 44% of Parisians said they were likely to leave the capital within the next five years.
