Population. Haute-Garonne is the department which gains the most inhabitants in mainland France

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While Toulouse now has 511,684 inhabitants and is preparing to take “very quickly” from Lyon the title of 3rd city in France according to INSEE, the demographic attractiveness of the Pink City benefits its entire conurbation and (almost) the entire department. This is what emerges from the new figures from the 2022 legal population census, published Thursday December 19, 2024 by INSEE. What to remember.

Haute-Garonne, French champion of growth

Accounting 1 456 261 habitantsHaute-Garonne is in fact — excluding Mayotte — the department of France where the population is growing the fastest : +1.3% per year between 2016 and 2022, ahead of Hérault (+1.2%).

On average, Haute-Garonne wins 18 013 habitants per year, a little more than the equivalent of the town of Balma (17,431 inhabitants!). The department accommodates a little less than half of the 45,000 inhabitants gained each year by all 13 departments of Occitanie. The vast majority of them settle in Toulouse and its surrounding area.

A department with a positive natural balance!

Also note that it is the only one of the 13 departments of Occitanie where the natural balance is clearly positive (more births than deaths): 0.4%. THE net migration apparent (more arrivals than departures in the territory) is estimated by INSEE at 0.9%.

A multi-speed department

Within the department, the contrast continues globally between on one side, Toulouseand its agglomeration, and on the other, the south which is still emptying of its inhabitants. The 20 largest municipalities in Haute-Garonne are all in the Toulouse urban area… with one exception: Saint-Gaudens . In slight increase (+0.63% per year), the “capital of Comminges” and its 11,869 inhabitants contrast with their surroundings, where many municipalities are becoming depopulated.

Note that after several years of scarcity, the other sub-prefecture of the department is returning to growth (+0.29% per year): Worry has in fact gained nearly 600 inhabitants in one year and claims 25,653 souls.

The five cities that decline the most

Among municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants, four of the five which show the sharpest decline are in the Commingesand the Volvester . Only Pompertuzat, located in Lauragais, is an exception.

1. Bagnères-de-Luchon : 2 081 (-1,8 %)
2. Montrejeau 2 676 (-0,9 %)
3. Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze : 2 288 (-0,5 %)
4. Pompertuzat : 2 203 (-0,4 %)
5. Cazères : 4 818 (-0,2 %)

And the five cities that earn the most

Conversely, still with regard to municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants, those which gain the most population are all in the nord of the Pink City, in the midst of a demographic explosion.

1. Saint-Jory : 7 996 (+5,8 %)
2. Gragnague : 2 428 (+5,3 %
3. Gratentour : 4 926 (+5,0 %)
4. A brand : 2 325 (+4,8 %)
5. Mondonville : 6 003 (+4,8 %)

The Frontonnais in strong growth

Of the 17 intermunicipalities in the department, the community of communes of Frontonnais is also the one where the population is increasing the most (+1.8%), ahead of its neighbor Girou slopes(+1.7%). Followed by Toulouse Métropole, Sicoval and the Auterivain Basin (+1.5%). In contrast, that of Pyrenees Haut-Garonnaises in Luchonnais, is losing inhabitants (-0.1%).

Occitanie, future 3rd region of France

At the regional level, Occitaniahas 6,080,731 inhabitants (+0.8% per year). According to Caroline Jamet director of INSEE Occitanie, it “will overtake New Aquitaine within a few years, to become the 3rd region of Franceby its population”, behind Île-de-France and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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