Data analysis on descendants of French immigrants: Living in big cities, they like to find local spouses

According to "Le Figaro", there are 7.3 million people born in France to one of their immigrant parents, accounting for 11% of the total population in 2015.

The origins of these 7.3 million people reflect the history of French immigration for more than a century. Most of them (45%) come from European countries: in the 1930s, the descendants of immigrants mainly came from Spain and Italy, and after the 1970s, Portuguese immigrants gradually entered France. With the end of the Algerian War of Independence, France ushered in a wave of immigrants from North Africa, and their descendants accounted for 31% of the second-generation immigrants in France. Beginning in the mid-1970s, immigration from other African countries or Asia began to rise. In 2015, 11% of the children of immigrants had at least one parent from a sub-Saharan African country, and 9% were from Asia.

These second-generation immigrants are younger than the rest of the French population, with 47% of them under 25 years old. As waves of immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries began in the modern era, 80% of them are under 25 years old. 60% of North African immigrants are under 25 years old.

Nearly half of these second-generation immigrants (3.3 million) have both parents who are immigrants, and in 90% of cases, the whole family is from the same country. 3.6 million people are from transnational marriage families. There are many cases where the father is an immigrant and the mother is French. The report also shows that among the descendants of immigrants over the age of 25 who live in a partnership, two-thirds will choose neither immigrants nor second-generation immigrants as their spouses. The descendants of immigrants from Europe are more likely than the descendants of African immigrants to choose a partner with a person of a different origin than their own.

The report shows that in terms of residential location, immigrants mostly choose big cities such as the capital, and their descendants are also relatively concentrated, with 30% living in Paris. European immigrants are mostly distributed in ?le-de-France (26%), Occitania, Auvergne-Rh?ne-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur. C?te d'Azur) region. Their descendants are basically also distributed in these areas, but the number in Paris is less than that of their parents (21%). Most immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries and their descendants are concentrated in Paris (56%), and one-third of immigrants from North Africa and their descendants also choose Paris.

On the contrary, immigrants accounted for only 8% in rural areas, and descendants of immigrants accounted for 11%. In rural areas, 27% of the population are neither immigrants nor descendants of immigrants.