La Souterraine, symbol of the demographic decline of the Creuse

According to INSEE, the former Limousin region is the one which lost the most inhabitants, in New Aquitaine, between 2016 and 2022. It is in Creuse that the demographic decline is most pronounced: the The commune of La Souterraine, for example, although favored by its strategic road location, now has less than five thousand inhabitants.

It's a slow, but lasting trend. La Souterraine, the second town in Creuse after Guéret, is declining demographically. According to data published by INSEE last December, in 2011, it had 5,575 inhabitants, compared to 4,928 in 2022. For the mayor (PS) Étienne Lejeune, these figures are not surprising: “Everything is explained. In 2017 and 2018, there were the GM&S et al cases. The territory lost nearly five hundred industrial jobs. We had already lost some in previous decades. For forty years, the territory of the country hasOstranian lost a thousand jobs. Obviously, it has repercussions, it can be seen.”

The latest census reveals that New Aquitaine, the third most populous region in France, gained more than 178,000 inhabitants between 2016 and 2022. However, the former Limousin does not participate in this dynamic: Corrèze (more than 1 400 inhabitants lost), Haute-Vienne (more than 2,500) and especially Creuse (nearly 4,000) display all the three, a negative balance.

In La Souterraine, however, efforts are being made to encourage people to move into the town. In 2021, the opening of a medical center notably enabled the installation of five general practitioners. The structure will even expand by the end of the year, in order to accommodate two pediatricians and two cardiologists.

There are a lot of retirees. A few young people, not many, unfortunately…

Alain Dumas, vice-president of the Marchois Pétanque club

Another positive sign: the creation of one hundred and fifty jobs, in 2023, with the arrival of Rioland leather goods. La Souterraine can also rely on a fairly dense cultural and sporting fabric, based on one hundred and forty associations and numerous licensees. Alain Dumas, vice-president of the Marchoise Pétanque club, still puts this apparent dynamism into perspective: “There are a lot of retireeshe smiles. A few young people, not many, unfortunately… A few people who are still active, of course. We are a small club that is doing well. We get along well, it works well, that's the main thing.“

A few kilometers away, along the A20 and the RN145, the La Croisière business park is home to sixteen companies for two hundred and fifty employees. The number of workers has doubled there since 2017, thus limiting the decline in the population. “I am convinced that today, it is obviously employment which is the locomotive of the territorysays Étienne Lejeune. Employment, but also services, and everything we are able to offer as factors of attractiveness for businesses, from which, behind, a demographic evolution results.“

To find out everything about the trends that our territory is experiencing, we will have to wait for the unveiling of the next census. It starts in ten days.