The 22 French metropolises experienced stronger demographic growth than the other types of intermunicipalities between 2013 and 2019, according to an INSEE study published on Tuesday on the diversity of public establishments with their own taxation (EPCI).
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 communities of agglomerations and 992 communities of communes, 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 the 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, population growth is more moderate (at most 0.2% per year) in the metropolises of Grenoble-Alpes, Saint-tienne and Rouen Normandie.
During this period, the increase was the strongest in the intermunicipalities located in the south-eastern quarter of France, on the Atlantic coast and in the Paris region, as well as in some EPCIs neighboring Ile-de-France.
In addition, the communities of municipalities located around metropolitan areas or the east of France near the borders with Belgium, Germany or Switzerland are those where growth is the strongest, further specifies INSEE.
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Only 3% of French municipalities are metropolises – created in 2010 and which have more than 400,000 inhabitants – but they concentrate 29% of the French population.
Housing is the most overcrowded in metropolitan areas (18%), which concentrate only 3% of secondary residences compared to 20% in communities of predominantly rural municipalities.
In metropolitan areas, the population is also generally younger, with almost a third of inhabitants aged under 25 due to the presence of university campuses, while people over 65 are generally few in number ( 17% against 20% on the territory).