Brandished by one and the other to make them say everything and its opposite, immigration figures constitute the raw material for many fantasies. It is to see things more clearly and dispassionate the debate that 20 minutes presents to you, without any gimmicks, the main figures for immigration to France in 2023.
145,522 asylum requests
For 2023, the Ministry of the Interior reports in its annual report on immigration 145,522 first asylum applications (+6%). On Tuesday, the Refugee Protection Office (Ofpra) also indicated an 8.6% increase in asylum applications, to the historic level of 142,500 files. “Among them, there are some 123,400 first asylum requests,” Ofpra said in a press release. For the sixth consecutive year, it is nationals of Afghanistan who are the leading asylum seekers in France, with more than 17,500 first requests submitted, according to Ofpra data. Followed by people from Bangladesh (8,600), Turkey (8,500), the Democratic Republic of Congo (8,000) and the Republic of Guinea (7,000).
323,260 residence permits granted
This is up 1.4% from last year. The dynamic of residence permits was “driven by employee permits” according to the Ministry of the Interior, which reported a 5% increase in permits issued for economic reasons (54,630). But it is student titles, which have remained almost stable (+1%) at 103,500, which constitute the primary reason for issuance. Next come those for family reasons, down 5% to 91,000. The regularization of undocumented people was almost stable (+0.3%) at 34,400, or only 10% of the total residence permits granted. This includes a 5% increase in regularized undocumented workers, to 11,411. In total, the Maghreb countries represented a third of the residence permits issued, with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in order.
More than 17,000 evictions
They increased faster than regularizations with + 10% compared to last year. An increase in particular “linked to the resumption of consular cooperation with Algeria”, whose nationals are the first to be removed (2,562, +36%), according to Beauvau. In detail, forced removals to third countries increased by 13% to 5,700 people. Gérald Darmanin also welcomed the “4,686 foreign offenders returned to their country of origin in 2023 compared to 3,615 in 2022 (i.e. +30%)”.
61,640 new French people
Last year, 61,640 people acquired French nationality, down 22%. According to Beauvau, this is the “lowest figure since 2018” and is explained by an “increase in the level of French proficiency required since 2020”.
62,400 Ukrainian refugees
At the end of 2023, there were 62,400 displaced Ukrainians living in France, beneficiaries of temporary protection, due to the war in their country. It’s much less than in Germany (1.24 million) or even in Italy (161,500).