Paris' population in decline?
In 2021, Paris alone accounted for 2.17 million of the 12.26 million inhabitants of the Île-de-France region. Paris' population has been experiencing a relatively steady decline since 2012, and projections predict that this trend will continue in the coming decades. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), Paris' population will fall below two million by 2055. Inhabitants of Paris between the ages of 15 and 44 are the most numerous: in 2019, they represented nearly half of the Parisian population. Located on the left bank of the Seine, in the southwest of the city, the most populous district (and the largest in terms of surface area) is the 15th arrondissement, which had over 231,000 inhabitants in 2020.Housing crisis
Paris is the French city where the price of living is the highest, especially housing. In 2018, it was the fourth most expensive city in the world to rent a two-room apartment, after Hong Kong, San Francisco, and New York. In January 2022, a rent of 700 euros only allowed to rent an apartment of 15 square meters in Paris, while this amount was enough to rent an apartment twice that size in Lyon, the second most expensive city in France for housing. The districts with the highest real estate prices are the 6th and 7th arrondissements.While the capital is the city that attracts the most students, Paris is also the place where renting a student studio is the most expensive. In 2022, the rent for such an apartment was 849 euros, while the average student budget for housing in the rest of France was 560 euros.
Leaving Paris?
In 2021, 44 percent of Parisians considered it likely that they would move out of the capital in the next five years, compared to four points less in 2019, and the primary reason for this was, indeed, the cost of living. More than a quarter also cited the desire for a larger living space as a potential reason for moving. Furthermore, nearly two out of five Parisians consider housing and the cost of living to be the main issues facing Paris today.On the other hand, people in Paris are generally satisfied with the environment of their neighborhood: in 2021, only 17 percent of them expressed dissatisfaction. The majority of Parisians consider the social cohesion of their neighborhood to be good, and that people from different social categories or different origins coexist well. They also cite the quality of public transportation, safety, and the proximity of green spaces and health services as the main reasons why France's capital city is a good place to live.
