Paris: In the midst of an extremely precarious political context and with the current French Prime Minister, François Bayrou’s remarks on a “migratory submersion”, the French Home Ministry has unveiled the immigration statistics for 2024, revealing a significant increase that defies all forecasts.

Visas saw a rise of 16.8%, while 336,700 first-residence permits were issued, marking a 1.8% increase from 2023. This follows a more than 4% increase the previous year. 

Study permits led the category, followed by family reunification permits. Economic and humanitarian reasons were also significant contributors to the overall increase. Additionally, 879,900 permits were renewed in 2024. 

Algerians emerged as the most represented nationality, with 649,991 permits, a slight increase of 0.5%. Moroccans, Tunisians, and Turks were also prominent, with all top 10 nationalities experiencing statistical growth. Ivorians showed the most robust progression, with a 9.1% increase. 

In a notable development on the asylum front, France recorded a significant drop in first-time applications in 2024, totaling 130,952, a decrease of 9.8%. Last year, Ukraine surpassed Afghanistan as the leading nationality of asylum seekers, with 13,353 applications, a 293% increase.

Despite having a special temporary protection status, renewable every six months, a quarter of Ukrainians with this status have applied for asylum in France. This trend is not mirrored by France’s European neighbors, who also host Ukrainian asylum seekers.

The surge in applications partly explains the sharp rise in the consular protection rate in France, with Ukrainians receiving 90% protection due to the ongoing conflict in their country. 

France expelled 21,601 illegal immigrants in 2024, a 26.7% increase in expulsions compared to 2023, with 17,000 deportations. Among them, forced removals amounted to 12,856, an increase of 9.7%, according to the document

However, these figures remain below pre-COVID levels. In addition, 31,250 illegal individuals were regularized last year, a 10% decrease from the previous year. 

Former Home Minister and current Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin expressed satisfaction on social media platform X, stating, “These results have been obtained thanks to the firm policy that we have pursued during the first nine months of 2024, continued by Bruno Retailleau (the current Home Minister).” 

Furthermore, 20,090 individuals obtained French nationality for family reasons, a 9% decrease from the previous year.