The demographic data of the French society (2008)

Résumé du document

The total French population on January 1, 2011 is 65 million (63.1 million in mainland France and 1.9 million in the French overseas departments).
The average age of the population, which is rising constantly, is currently 40.1 years. The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (in French, 'Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques', or INSEE) has made population projections to the horizon of 2060. They estimated that mainland France will have 73.6 million inhabitants by January 1, 2060, which is 10.5 million more than the population size today.

According to the same statistics, the senior population (inhabitants aged over 60 years) is expected to represent one third of the overall French population in 2060. The evolution of French households is characterized by two main trends: their number keeps increasing and at the same time the number of people living under the same roof constantly decreases. As a matter of fact, in 2008, mainland France had 27 million households. That is 90% more than in 1960. In contrast, demographic growth in the same period of time has only been 36% .

In 2007, the average French household contained 2.3 persons. The average household size tends to decrease (in 1962, it was equal to 3.1). This is mainly because of life expectancy being greater than before and also because 'living together' behavior has changed. In their daily activities, households affect the environment with different pressures, waste production being one of them.