Les Echos, 19 January 2011
"French birthrate hits record after record," leads Les Echos. In 2010 there were 828,000 children born in France, or the highest number in 30 years, according to official figures published on January 19. With a fertility rate of 2.01 children per woman – the highest rate across the EU after Ireland (2.07) – the French population now stands at 65 million. "This puts France in second place among the twenty-seven countries of Europe, behind Germany (81.8 million). Again, this is specific to France. Italy and Spain, for example, are also seeing their population grow, but that growth is primarily due to net migration. In France, in contrast, net migration (+75,000) remains very modest compared with the natural growth (+283,000)."
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