Morbihan: See which communes have grown in population - and those that have fallen
The department has seen a small increase in resident numbers overall
Vannes, Morbihan's biggest town, experienced the greatest increase in residents
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The population of Morbihan in Brittany has grown by 0.6% on average each year between 2016 and 2022 according to a new report, with Vannes receiving the most total newcomers and Gestel experiencing the biggest percentage decrease.
A new report was published by national statistics bureau INSEE on December 13 showed the population of Morbihan (56) on January 1, 2022 comprised 776,103 residents, an increase of 0.6% year on year from 2016 to 2022. This rate of increase matches that of Brittany as a whole.
The birthrate during this time was 9.0%, slightly lower than the death rate of 11.2%, meaning that the increase in population was due to migration.
INSEE reports that it is mostly on the coasts of the Morbihan that the population is increasing, with populations decreasing further inland.
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Communes that grew in size
The ten communes that grew in size the most according to INSEE were as follows:
Vannes (capital) :1,737 more residents between 2016 and 2022
Sarzeau: 1,226 more residents
Ploemeur: 962 more residents
Lorient: 928 more residents
Guidel: 848 more residents
Saint-Avé: 831 more residents
Lanester: 789 more residents
Surzur: 784 more residents (the biggest percentage increase at 2.8% each year)
Auray: +750 residents
Elven: +675 residents
“I'm delighted with the demographic growth of our territory. We have been a territory that welcomes retirees and now working people. I think we are at a demographic peak. The years to come will be more complicated,” David Robo, mayor of Vannes and president of the Golfe du Morbihan-Vannes agglomération, told L’Actu.
Communes that reduced in size
The communes which experienced the biggest decrease in population were Gestel (-1,1% year on year between 2016 and 2022), Bubry (-0,9%), Guiscriff (-0,6%) Cléguérec (-0,6%) and Guer (-0.5%).
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Age ranges
Older generations make up most of the population of Morbihan.
The figures show that the two most represented age groups are 60 to 74 year olds (20.8%) and 45 to 59 year-olds (20.1%).
15 to 29 year olds make up 14.1% of the population with an impressive 11,790 (1.5%) of residents being over the age of 90. 8,689 of these are women.
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Families
According to the data, there were 363,065 households in the department.
216,443 were made up of families; 107,750 without children and 80,718 with one or more children. The remaining 27,975 households comprise families of one parent and one or more children.
142,627 households comprised just one person.
In total, 44.4% of those above the age of 15 were married and 24.2% were single. The remaining quarter was made up of people in a PACS, or a civil union, (6.3%), co-habiting (10.4%), widowed (8.2%) and divorced (6.4%).