Immigration is the main, if not the exclusive, theme of the political debate leading up to the presidential election.
From the great replacement, to selective immigration, to quotas, all the players are bringing their solutions to the table.
But if we stick to the facts and set aside biases and propaganda effects by focusing on the numbers, the reality is not the same…
And it is the OECD — hardly suspected of activism in this matter — that provides us with these figures in its annual report.
Overflowing? Everyone can judge for themselves, but France has 10.2% of its population who are “born as foreigners abroad”, which is indeed double the level of 1946 but less than the current OECD average of 13.6%.
An invasion? Not this year at least: in 2020, the number of migrants arriving in OECD countries decreased by 30% (-21% for France) and reached its lowest level since 2003.
A burden? According to the OECD’s words: “If we count everything the state spends on migrants, from healthcare to public lighting, including police and benefits, and what they contribute, we will always find a net budgetary contribution gap between -1 and +1% of GDP.”
