Which French regions have the most British residents - and how many?

Only a small percentage of Britons who move to France come to live in Paris, recently published data by the official state statistics body Insee shows.

The study, titled Where were Parisians born? was released in February and is based on data collected from the 2020 French census. It reveals that of the 2,146,000 inhabitants of Paris, only 30% were actually born in the capital - and only around 5% of all Britons living in France were there.

Further Insee data shows that in 2020, France’s population included 141,870 people with British nationality (in 2021, this figure fell slightly to 137,508), and 6,928 Britons were living in Paris (6,650 in 2021).

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Most Britons in France live in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The number of Britons living in other regions of France can also be calculated using Insee reports. The most recent figures (released in June 2024) using administrative data from 2021 show:

• Nouvelle-Aquitaine – 38,814 British residents

• Occitanie – 23,094

• Ile-de-France – 16,068

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – 13,721

• Brittany – 11,104

• Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – 10,075

• Normandy – 6,964

• Pays de la Loire – 6,499

• Centre-Val de Loire – 2,817

• Hauts-de-France – 2,719

• Grand Est – 2,645

• Bourgogne-Franche-Comté – 2,368

• Corsica – 563 (listed as ‘other European nationalities’ – no specific data for Britons)

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It means that in 2021 more than a quarter (28.2%) of all UK nationals living in France were in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

The total population of foreign nationals (not including those having acquired French nationality) in the region is listed as 312,757, meaning Britons represent 12.4% of the international community there and are the second largest foreign community after the Portuguese (51,541). 

This region is the largest administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of the country, home to cities such as Bordeaux, Bayonne, Limoges, Poitiers, Pau and La Rochelle.

Occitanie is also popular with UK nationals - representing 16.8% of Britons in France in 2021. 

The total population of foreign nationals in Occitanie is 389,816, meaning Britons represent 5.9% of the international community in this region. 

Methodology notes and definitions

Insee defines residents as: “persons of any nationality who have their principal place of residence in France, with the exception of foreign civil servants and military personnel stationed in France who are non-residents regardless of the duration of their assignment.” 

It states that a person needs to have lived in France for at least 12 consecutive months to be counted as a resident.

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In its studies, a Brit or a British national refers to: “a person who reports that they are of British nationality and reside in France when filling in the population census.”

Seasonal workers and border workers are not included, and neither are members of the diplomatic corps (however foreign staff of Embassies residing permanently in France are counted). 

Tourists and people on short stays in France are not counted in the census.