It’s official: they love us. The French expat population in North America has grown, and that’s according to the 2016 report by the French government on French people living abroad.
According to the annual report, which was just released, North America had 259,390 French people in 2016, a 10.82% increase from the previous year. 61% are in the US, and 39% reside in Canada.
These figures correspond to the number of French nationals who are registered in the database of French nationals abroad, the official measure of the expatriate population. The real population is therefore larger because many French people do not register with their consulate when they leave France.
According to the register’s figures, as of December 31, 2016, 157,849 French nationals were registered in consulates in the United States (+11.21% compared to 2015), and 101,541 in Canada (+10.23%) as of December 31,2016. The United States is still the second-most popular country for French expatriates after Switzerland.
Worldwide, 1,782,188 people were registered in the global register of French nationals living outside France, an increase of 4.16% compared to the previous year. This is the second largest increase since 2010.
Details below:
According to the report’s figures, all consular locations in the United States have experience an increase in French expat registrations. The increase was “particularly marked in San Francisco (+30%) and Los Angeles (+15.5%). Six consular posts also experienced strong growth in their communities: Miami and Boston (+9%), Houston and Atlanta (+7%), New York (+6.5%), and Washington D.C. (+5.5%). This increase is less marked in New Orleans (+5.6%) and nearly negligible in Chicago (+0.6%)”, reads the report.
In Canada, the increase was “very strong” in four consular locations: Quebec City (+12.4%), Toronto (+11.8%), Montreal (+10%), and Vancouver (+9%). The trend was negative for Moncton and Halifax, with a decline of 52 (-4.08%) registered.
