Metropolises gained more inhabitants between 2013 and 2019

As of January 1, 2021, the 34.944 French municipalities are grouped into 1.248 intermunicipalities -or EPCIs- of four types, according to their number of inhabitants.

Among these groupings, 22 are metropolises (including that of Lyon which has the status of a community and not an EPCI), 14 urban communities, 221 urban communities and 992 communities of municipalities, indicates INSEE, which is based on the 2019 population censuses.

Between 2013 and 2019, the population increased more in metropolitan areas (+0,6% on average per year), compared to +0,4% on average in other EPCIs.

"The population of all metropolises is increasing, but the increase is highest in those of Rennes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Montpellier (more than 1% per year)", specifies the study.

On the other hand, the evolution of the population is more moderate (at most 0,2% per year) in the metropolises of Grenoble-Alpes, Saint-Étienne and Rouen Normandie.

During this period, the increase was the strongest in the intercommunalities located "in the south-eastern quarter of France, on the Atlantic coast and in the Paris region", as well as in some EPCIs neighboring the Ile-de- France.

In addition, "the communities of municipalities located around the metropolises or in the east of France near the borders with Belgium, Germany or Switzerland are those where growth is the strongest", further specifies INSEE.

Only 3% of French municipalities constitute metropolises - created in 2010 and which bring together more than 400.000 inhabitants - but they concentrate 29% of the French population.

Housing is most overcrowded in metropolitan areas (18%), which concentrate only 3% of second homes against 20% in communities of predominantly rural municipalities.

In metropolitan areas, the population is also generally younger, with almost a third of inhabitants under the age of 25 due to the presence of university campuses, while people over 65 are generally few in number ( 17% against 20% on the territory).