Nice retains its place as the fifth largest city in France in terms of population with 345,528 inhabitants. But in six years, its number of inhabitants tends to stagnate. Cannes for its part becomes the second most populous city in the department with 74,545 inhabitants, or 1,107 more than Antibes, which lost between 2013 and 2019, 3,278 inhabitants. This is what the latest INSEE survey shows on the evolution of demography in France over the period 2013-2019.
Given the health crisis and the annual census postponed to 2022, these figures stop in 2019. They do not then take into account the effects of Covid-19 on the distribution of populations, particularly in urban and rural areas.
In general, the population of the department has increased by 0.2% on average per year. So what are the cities that have gained inhabitants? And those who have lost some?
To the east of the department, the coastal towns are losing inhabitants
Between 2013 and 2019, INSEE notes that the population in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat decreased by an average of 2.8% each year. These data take into account the natural balance, that is to say, the difference between the number of births and the number of registered deaths, as well as the apparent migratory balance, which represents the difference between the number of people entering a territory and the number of people who left it. Eze recorded a decrease of 1.9% on average per year, with on January 1, 2019, 2,256 inhabitants. In Villefranche-sur-Mer also, the population has shrunk with 0.9% fewer people during this period. Same observation in Théoule-sur-Mer.
In the high country, it is in Breil-sur-Roya that the population has fallen the most between 2013 and 2019, going from 2,531 to 2,137 inhabitants. A trend that is likely to continue downward for future surveys, especially with the passage of storm Alex in October 2020.
Municipalities where the population is growing
According to survey figures, towns in the middle and near hinterland have seen their number of inhabitants increase the most in six years. In Saint-Blaise, for example, there were 1,240 inhabitants in 2019 against 1,004 in 2013. In Drap, 4,344 during the same period and 5,117 in 2019. Or Châteauneuf-Grasse where in 2013, there were 3,215 and six years older late, 3.664. Saint-Martin-du-Var saw its population increase by 2.1% each year on average to reach 3,095 in 2019 against 2,769 in 2013.
On the coast, Villeneuve-Loubet has experienced the greatest increase in terms of population in recent years. With 2.1% more inhabitants each year, on January 1, the town already had 16,285. Cagnes-sur-Mer also experienced an increase in its population with 47,336 in 2013 and 52,178 six years later.
Overall, the migratory balance has become positive again, while the contribution of the natural balance is almost zero in the department, observes INSEE. The organization also notes that at the scale of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, the urban space concentrated 4.3 million inhabitants on January 1, 2019, or 85% of the population. It is the region outside Paris for which the proportion of rural population is the lowest, specifies the institute.