How many Americans live in France - and how many Britons?

Nearly 153,000 adult Americans live in France according to analysis from federal US government body Fvap - which means France hosts the most Americans outside the US, after Canada and the UK.

An exact figure is hard to come by - Fvap states it compiled both French and US data to make its estimate. It presented it as part of an analysis of potential voters abroad for the elections this year. 

The figure is comparable to the 166,414 valid residency cards that were held by British citizens living in France as of December 31, 2023, as listed in a recent Interior Ministry publication.

Rise in US applications

The ministry still separates out data on les Britanniques from other cardholders in its updates, due to the unusual situation which arose due to Brexit, whereby low numbers applied prior, as they did not need cards to live legally in France, then almost 100,000 obtained cards in the year 2021.

9,261 first residency cards were issued to Britons in 2023, compared to 12,153 first-issue cards for Americans, in the latest ministry analysis. 

We sought a precise figure for the stock of valid cards held by Americans from sources including official state statistics bodies Ined and Insee, but none were available. 

Cards held should be roughly comparable to resident adults, since all Americans - and Britons, post Brexit - need cards to settle in France (though they are no longer needed by those who gain dual nationality).

Also, cards are usually only issued to adults (from age 18) although it is possible to request one earlier (from 16) if it is essential for reasons linked to studies or work. 

While Americans often opt to live in Paris, Britons have historically most often moved to more rural areas such as the south-west, Normandy and Brittany. 

Cards issued to Americans have shown a rising trend in recent years, though 2023 is slightly down on 2022, when there were 12,373 new cards issued to Americans. 

In 2022 Americans edged ahead of China and Côte d’Ivoire into fourth from sixth place before the pandemic in 2019, but as of 2023 they were in fifth place after Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and China. 

These figures for new cards issued in 2023 (still provisional) compare to a total of 336,215 first-issue residency cards overall in that year. 

Official Interior Ministry figures for visas, as opposed to cards, show that 2.4 million were issued in 2023, up from 1.7 million in 2022 – a 40% increase. 

However this is still significantly below the 3.5 million before the pandemic. 

The largest category was short-stay visas, for nationals who do not have a 90/180 days visa waiver to visit the EU (unlike Britons and Americans), such as Russian, Chinese and Indian travellers.