The annual INSEE census campaign begins this Thursday, January 16, 2025. In Lorraine, where the population is increasing in Metz and on the Luxembourg border, residents of 485 municipalities are concerned. Furthermore, a new question on the geographical origin of the parents has entered the questionnaire and has provoked criticism.
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The new national 2025 census campaign begins this Thursday, January 16 and will end on February 15. The opportunity to update the data concerning the population of the Grand Est, where the number of inhabitants has stagnated for several years. In Lorraine, the latest figures revealed by INSEE in December 2024 note, on the other hand, growth in Metz (Moselle) and near the Luxembourg border. Furthermore, a new question on the geographical origin of parents is entering the census questionnaire and is causing fears and criticism.
The population of the Grand Est is stagnating. This amounts to 5,560,079 inhabitants as of January 1, 2022, or 8.2% of the French population. Between 2016 and 2022, the regional population increased, on average, by 816 inhabitants each year, i.e. almost zero annual change. Over this period in Lorraine, the population remained stable in Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle. On the other hand, the population of the Meuse decreased by 0.7% per year. Same observation in the Vosges, where it lost 0.5% of its inhabitants each year, according to INSEE.
-Average annual change in the French population between 2016 and 2022.
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© INSEE
Going against this trend, since 2018, the city of Metz (Moselle) has been gaining inhabitants (+0.5% per year between 2016 and 2022). With 121,695 inhabitants as of January 1, 2022, that is to say 821 more than the previous year, it is the most populous city in Lorraine. The Moselle capital thus outranks its neighbor in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nancy (104,387 inhabitants), and consolidates its position as the third most populous city in the Grand Est, after Strasbourg and Reims. Near the Luxembourg border, demographic dynamism is also significant. It is explained by a strong residential attractiveness for cross-border workers.
If you are affected by the census this year, you have certainly received a letter from your municipality or a visit from an agent. In France, the census is used in particular to know the profession, age or housing of residents. It then makes it possible to adapt public policies, according to the characteristics of each territory. In towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants, it takes place every year, through a survey carried out among 8% of addresses. After five years, INSEE reaches a sample of around 40% of addresses and can thus estimate the number of inhabitants.
This year, however, three new questions are being asked of the population. One of them, on the geographical origin of the parents, provokes indignation. Fearing political reuse of this data, the unions (CGT, FSU and Union Syndicale Solidaires) and associations (Human Rights League and Movement against racism and for friendship between peoples) are calling not to respond to it. . A petition is online and a column entitled “Insee census: do not answer the new question on the parents' country of birth” was published on the Mediapart website.
At the same time, INSEE is launching a “Families” survey, carried out every ten years, to better understand the life course of the population.
