New figures from the French Ministry of the Interior have revealed record-high migration levels.
In 2024, 2,858,083 visas were granted, or a rise of 16.8 per cent compared to the year before, French daily Le Figaro reported on February 4.
In 2024, France issued 336,700 first-residence permits, marking a 1.8 per cent increase from 2023, following a rise of over 4 per cent the previous year, it was disclosed.
The primary reason for these permits was given as education, accounting for a third of them – 109,300.
Family reunification was good for 90,600 permits issued, while economic and humanitarian reasons accounted for 55,000.
Additionally, 879,900 residence permits were renewed, excluding 4,969 issued to British nationals, who are listed separately in the interior ministry’s data, apparently due to Brexit.
When it came to permit renewals, family-related reasons topped the list, with 325,780 permits renewed in 2024.
Meanwhile, 144,230 students extended their status, reflecting a 5.7 per cent increase.
Altogether, across all categories, the number of valid residence permits now exceeded 4.3 million, including 169,991 issued to British nationals — an unprecedented figure.
That represented an increase of 161,294 permits compared to 2023, a rise of almost 4 per cent.
Despite the conflict between France and the Algerian regime, Algerians remained the most represented nationality, with 649,991 residence permits — albeit just a 0.5 per cent increase.
They were followed by Moroccans with 617,053 permits — up 2.2 per cent, Tunisians’ 304,297 permits, or plus-4.9 per cent and Turks on 232,421 permits, a rise of 0.3 per cent.
Among the top 10 nationalities, all have seen an increase, with Ivorians experiencing the sharpest rise, renewing 119,079 permits — a 9.1 per cent rise.
More than 40 per cent of those with a valid residence permit registered in 2024 were of Maghreb country nationality. One third of them came for family reasons.
Total asylum applications dropped a little, from 187,197 to 170,228.
Overall, most applicants were from Ukraine, at 13,353, a rise of almost 300 per cent on the previous year.
France has the most asylum applications and grants for Ukrainian refugees in the EU.
There was also a strong concentration of foreigners ending up in certain places, with Seine-Saint-Denis having 26.9 per cent of regular foreigners while Paris had recived 19 per cent.
Le Figaro noted that there were costs connected to the rising migration numbers but said those were not included in the latest figures.
It added, though, that costs “will certainly be the subject of an evaluation by a parliamentary committee or by the Court of Auditors”.
The newspaper said it expected that such an evaluation would prove “explosive” given the difficult budgetary situation in France.
Naturalisations rose by 8.3 per cent, with 66,745 people gaining French citizenship last year.
Interior minister Bruno Retailleau highlighted a 10 per cent drop in Republican Integration Contracts signed in 2024, seen as a key step toward “regularisation”.
While his predecessor Christophe Castaner deported more illegal immigrants than both Retailleau and former interior minister Gérald Darmanin, the ministry said it aimed to introduce a new directive and tighten residency criteria.
Reacting to the latest figures, Jordan Bardella, President of the hard-right National Assembly (RA) party said: “The doors of our country have never been so open and immigration has never been so numerous.
“If the French people want to regain control, they must choose leaders who truly have the courage and the will to put an end to three decades of excess.”
David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes and member of the centre-right Republican Party, said: “There is the official rhetoric and then there is the reality of a State that does nothing to stop or even slow down this relentless influx.
“We were already familiar with budgetary dishonesty; now we see migration dishonesty as well.”
🚨 Immigration en France : les chiffres 2024 viennent d'être publiés aujourd'hui à 12h30.
De nouveaux records ont été battus.
👉 Voici une synthèse en 8⃣ infographies pour tout savoir ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/BoOdgtfbNK
— Marc Vanguard (@marc_vanguard) February 4, 2025
