British migration to France
{{about|French people of British descent|British people of French descent|French migration to the United Kingdom}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group = British citizens in France
{{small|Citoyens britanniques en France}}
| image = Père-Lachaise - Division 89 - Ada Johnson 02.jpg
| image_caption = Grave of Kathleen Johnson of Carshalton, Père-Lachaise Cemetery
| population = 261,000{{citation | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | title = Brits Abroad: Country-by-country | work = BBC News | date = 11 December 2006 | access-date = 24 May 2009 | archive-date = 8 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130408081743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | url-status = live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2381750 |title=Répartition des étrangers par groupe de nationalités | Insee }} - 400,000{{cite web |author=Erwin Dopf |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni |title=Présentation du Royaume-Uni |publisher=diplomatie.gouv.fr |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-date=29 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529145811/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni/|title=Présentation du Royaume-Uni|website=France Diplomatie : : Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/relations-bilaterales/|title = Relations bilatérales}}
| popplace = Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées, Brittany, Poitou-Charentes, Corsica, Centre-Val de Loire, Limousin, Pays de la Loire, Lower Normandy, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Alsace (particularly Strasbourg), French Alps
| rels = Anglicanism, Protestantism, Irreligion, Catholicism
| related = Britons
}}
British migration to France has resulted in France being home to one of the largest British-born populations outside the United Kingdom. Migration from the UK to France has increased rapidly from the 1990s onwards. Estimates of the number of British citizens living in France vary from 261,000{{citation | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | title = Brits Abroad: Country-by-country | work = BBC News | date = 11 December 2006 | access-date = 24 May 2009 | archive-date = 8 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130408081743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | url-status = live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.statslife.org.uk/social-sciences/1910-how-many-british-immigrants-are-there-in-other-people-s-countries|title=How many British immigrants are there in other countries|publisher=Royal Statistical Society|access-date=2017-01-20|archive-date=2017-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201235001/https://www.statslife.org.uk/social-sciences/1910-how-many-british-immigrants-are-there-in-other-people-s-countries|url-status=dead}} to 400,000.{{cite web |author=Erwin Dopf |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni |title=Présentation du Royaume-Uni |publisher=diplomatie.gouv.fr |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-date=29 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529145811/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni|title=Présentation du Royaume-Uni|website=France Diplomatie : : Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères|language=fr-FR|access-date=2017-12-18}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/referendum-sur-le-brexit/article/2017/06/19/hausse-de-254-du-nombre-de-britanniques-demandant-la-nationalite-francaise-en-2016_5147585_4872498.html|title=Brexit : hausse de 254 % du nombre de Britanniques demandant la nationalité française en 2016|last=Gerard|first=Maïder|date=2017-06-19|work=Le Monde.fr|access-date=2017-12-18|language=fr|issn=1950-6244}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11620356/Emigration-nation-who-are-the-thousands-fleeing-Britain-each-year.html|title=Emigration nation: who are the thousands fleeing Britain each year?|last=Bennett|first=Asa|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2015-05-21|access-date=2017-12-18|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} Besides Paris, many British expatriates tend to be concentrated in the regions of southern France, Brittany, and recently the island of Corsica. Dordogne has a large British immigrant community. The region has between 5,000 and 10,000 British residents and 800 British entrepreneurs, drawn by the French lifestyle and warmer climate in the south.{{cite news|title=Brits Abroad|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/europe.stm|work=BBC|accessdate=4 July 2013|date=6 December 2006}}{{cite news|title=Where have the figures come from?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6193494.stm#a2|work=Brits Abroad FAQs: The data|publisher=BBC|accessdate=4 July 2013|date=11 December 2006}}{{failed verification|date=December 2014}}
Demographics
=Population size=
There are conflicting estimates of the size of the British community in France. Estimates range from 261,000{{citation | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | title = Brits Abroad: Country-by-country | work = BBC News | date = 11 December 2006 | access-date = 24 May 2009 | archive-date = 8 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130408081743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm | url-status = live }} to 400,000.{{cite web |author=Erwin Dopf |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni |title=Présentation du Royaume-Uni |publisher=diplomatie.gouv.fr |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-date=29 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529145811/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/royaume-uni/presentation-du-royaume-uni/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=The British in Europe|publisher=MigrationWatch|url=https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/354}} The main destinations of British migration to France apart from Paris are rural areas of France and the southern areas of the country. The major regions chosen by this community are Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Brittany and Corsica. In Eymet, Dordogne, British immigrants account for a third of the local population, and in Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche and l'Etang-la-Ville in the Yvelines department near Paris, are a large proportion of UK nationals.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
=Population distribution=
According to the data collected, the distribution of Britons (the numerical figure is probably double that) in France was as follows:
| class="wikitable" |
| Location
! Population |
|---|
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Occitania (administrative region) |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| Île-de-France |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
| Brittany (administrative region) |
| Normandy |
| Pays de la Loire |
Today
In 2021, since the United Kingdom left the European Union, 100,000 residence permits have been granted to Britons in France.{{cite web|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/royaume-uni/britanniques-ils-ont-choisi-de-s-installer-en-france_5704319.html|title=Britanniques : ils ont choisi de s'installer en France|website=francetvinfo|access-date=4 January 2023 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215063426/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/royaume-uni/britanniques-ils-ont-choisi-de-s-installer-en-france_5704319.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ain.gouv.fr/Actions-de-l-Etat/Securite/Securite-publique/Douanes/BREXIT/Titre-de-sejour/Britanniques-deposer-une-demande-de-titre-de-sejour|title=Déposer une demande de titre de séjour (Britanniquesen France) |website=ain.gouv.fr|access-date=4 December 2024 |archive-date=4 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204123852/https://www.ain.gouv.fr/Actions-de-l-Etat/Securite/Securite-publique/Douanes/BREXIT/Titre-de-sejour/Britanniques-deposer-une-demande-de-titre-de-sejour |url-status=live}}
By the end of October 2021, more than 165,400 applications for residence permits had been submitted by British citizens in France.{{cite web|url=https://www.frenchentree.com/news/news-digest-almost-100000-brits-obtained-residence-permits-and-macron-has-lost-his-majority/|title=It was reported in October 2021 that 165,400 applications had been made for residence permits by Brits via the withdrawal agreement – meaning that of those applications, 60% have resulted in the issuing of cartes de séjour.|website=frenchentree.com|access-date=4 January 2023 |archive-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241203161009/https://www.frenchentree.com/news/news-digest-almost-100000-brits-obtained-residence-permits-and-macron-has-lost-his-majority/ |url-status=live}}
In 2014, the National Statistics Institute (INSEE, for its acronym in French) published a study, reporting that there are double the number of British immigrants, this increase having resulted from the euro area crisis; as a result, this has driven up the number of Europeans living in France.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sudouest.fr/2014/11/28/qui-sont-les-nouveaux-immigres-qui-vivent-en-france-1751452-705.php|title=Qui sont les nouveaux immigrés qui vivent en France ?|work=SudOuest.fr|access-date=2017-12-18|language=fr-FR}} The number of British immigrants in France increased by 50% between 2009 and 2012.{{Cite news|url=http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2309684/0/inmigrantes-espanoles/en-francia-duplicado/con-la-crisis|title=El número de inmigrantes españoles en Francia se ha duplicado con la crisis|last=20Minutos|work=20minutos.es – Últimas Noticias|access-date=2017-12-18}}
Other European immigrants in France: Portuguese 8%, British 5%, Spanish 5%, Italians 4%, Germans 4%, Romanians 3%, Belgians 3%. Displaced workers of Europe in France are: Poles (18% of the total), followed by the Portuguese people (15%) and Romanians (13%).{{Cite web|url=http://www.europe1.fr/emploi/travailleurs-detaches-ce-que-disent-les-chiffres-2271813|title=Travailleurs détachés : que disent (vraiment) les chiffres ?|website=www.europe1.fr|date=27 October 2014 |language=fr-FR|access-date=2017-12-18}}
Notable people
{{See also|List of British French people}}{{image array|perrow=6|width=80|height=90| border-width = 1
| image1 = Jane Birkin07.JPG| caption1 = Jane Birkin
| image2 = Claudette Colbert 1959.jpg| caption2 = Claudette Colbert
| image3 = Deanna Durbin in Yank Magazine.jpg| caption3 = Deanna Durbin
| image4 = Emma Watson interview in 2017.jpg| caption4 = Emma Watson
| image5 = Charlotte Gainsbourg Cannes 2019.jpg| caption5 = Charlotte Gainsbourg
| image6 = Delilah1.jpg| caption6 = Delilah
| image7 = Olivia DeHavilland-2.JPG| caption7 = Olivia de Havilland
| image8 = Peter Townsend (1914-1995).jpg| caption8 = Peter Townsend
| image9 = Matthew Raymond-Barker - Juan-les-Pins.jpg| caption9 = Matthew Raymond-Barker
| image10 = Jeanne Moreau 1958.jpg| caption10 = Jeanne Moreau
| image11 = Francois Grosjean.jpg| caption11 = François Grosjean
| image12 = George Romney - Emma Hart in a Straw Hat.jpg| caption12 = Emma, Lady Hamilton
| image13 = Emily Loizeau 20060504 Fnac 25-cropped.jpg| caption13 = Emily Loizeau
| image14 = Michael Lonsdale par Claude Truong-Ngoc avril 2013.jpg| caption14 = Michael Lonsdale
| image15 = Molières 2018 9.jpg| caption15 = Alexis Michalik
| image16 = Mignard,_after_-_Henriette_of_England,_Duchess_of_Orl%C3%A9ans_-_Mus%C3%A9e_Cond%C3%A9.jpg|caption16 = Henriette of England
| image17 = Emma Mackey MTV UK, January 2019.jpg| caption17 = Emma Mackey
| image18 = Oswald mosley MP.jpg| caption18 = Oswald Mosley
| image19 = Charlotte Rampling 2016.jpg| caption19 = Charlotte Rampling
| image20 = Lely Kéroualle 1671.jpg| caption20 = Louise de Kérouaille
| image21 = Uffie.jpg| caption21 = Uffie
| image22 = Kristin Scott Thomas Cabourg 2013.jpg| caption22 = Kristin Scott Thomas
| image23 = Louise_Ekland_-_Monte-Carlo_Television_Festival_(2).jpg| caption23 = Louise Ekland
| image24 = Sebastian Roché.jpg| caption24 = Sebastian Roché
| image25 = Renée Vivien 1.png| caption25 = Renée Vivien
| image26 = David Trotman.jpg| caption26 = David Trotman
| image27 = Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of Grace Dalrymple Elliott - Frick Collection.png| caption27 = Grace Elliott
| image28 = Penelope Fillon.jpg| caption28 = Penelope Fillon
| image29 = Amira Casar Cannes 2013 3.jpg| caption29 = Amira Casar
| image30 = Henri-Edmond-Cross-Self-portrait.jpg| caption30 = Henri-Edmond Cross
}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{British diaspora}}
{{Migration to France from Europe}}
{{Portal bar|France|United Kingdom}}
{{#related:French migration to the United Kingdom}}
{{#related:France–United Kingdom relations}}
{{#related:Swiss migration to France}}