Where is the demographics in the South Channel?

Where is the demographics in the South Channel?
Where is the demographics in the South Channel?

Par

Pierrick Kerbaul

Published on

Jan 8, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

The demographic figures are in for the South Channel. The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) has published demographic data from the census, at the national level, for the period 2016-2022. recorded an overall increase of 3,000 inhabitants, bringing the number of Normans to 3,339,074. A dynamic driven by the department, which records 10,000 new inhabitants. In the Channel, the trend is downward. INSEE notes 1,547 fewer people, at 496,815 Manchois.

496,815 Manchesis

Besides Cherbourg, which has lost more than 2,000 citizens in six years, the South Channel is particularly feeling this trend. The rural areas of Mortainais are particularly impacted. Apart from a few exceptions (Brécey, Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie or Gathemo), this sector is experiencing depopulation dynamics. Mortain, Barenton, Sourdeval, Saint-Pois, Juvigny-le-Tertre and Le Teilleul are all experiencing declines. Villages like Beauficel, Les-Loges-sur-Brécey or Le Petit-Celland lost 2 to 3% of their population.

Saint-Hilaire flops…

Same story on the borders of Ille-et-Vilaine. Saint-James and Pontorson are experiencing a drop in population, which however remains much lighter than in Mortainais. The real blow is for Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët. The crossroads of the three provinces recorded the second biggest loss in the department, behind Cherbourg, with 385 fewer inhabitants between 2016 and 2022. The commune fell below the 6,000 inhabitants mark, to 5,735 souls.

A constant decrease since the beginning of the 1980s, which is mainly explained by an ever-increasing shift towards large urban areas, but also an aging of the population. Indeed, 44% of residents are over 60 years old, and the mortality rate is 3 times higher than the birth rate, according to INSEE figures, in 2021. Isigny-le-Buat and Sourdeval occupy the 2nd and 3rd place for the South Channel, among the municipalities having lost the most inhabitants (-128 and -122 inhabitants).

… Saint-Pair-sur-Mer at its best

But the figures from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët do not explain everything. Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, a commune in the Granville conurbation, gained 327 individuals, the second highest total in the entire department behind the Saint-Lô prefecture. An increase of 1.3% for this town which has 4,372 inhabitants. However, the coastal city experiences a similar demographic at the crossroads of the three provinces. 51% of its population is over 60 years old and the mortality rate is more than three times higher than the birth rate.

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The trend is also positive in Avranches (+158 people). A slight increase which allows the sub-prefecture to maintain more than 10,000 souls. Saint-Jean-des-Champs, near La Haye-Pesnel, completes this podium with 120 additional inhabitants for 1,521 people.

The privileged coastline and medium-sized towns?

These are therefore two very different dynamics which are opposed in the South Channel. On the one hand, the municipalities of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, mainly around Avranches, are experiencing population growth. The axis, close to the seaside, between the sub-prefecture and Granville is experiencing significant progress. If Northern Monaco is still losing around a hundred inhabitants, the surrounding municipalities, like Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, are all increasing.

Conversely, Mortainais, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët and its surroundings, Saint-James and Pontorson are all experiencing more or less pronounced declines. The desire to live closer to the coast and near larger cities seems to be a real trend in the South Channel.


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