TerraNova momentum

The fastest-growing towns in France

Which municipalities in France are gaining residents and which are emptying — measured as compound annual population change from the official population register, not from listings or sentiment.

33,984 municipalities rated · median +0.00 %/yr · 40.3% declining

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Gaining residents fastest

#	Municipality	Province	Population	Change	Measured over	Grade
1	Bénesse-Maremne	Landes	3,748	+4.96 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 2,943 → 3,748 inhab.	A
2	Bois-de-Haye	Meurthe-et-Moselle	2,318	+4.95 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,821 → 2,318 inhab.	B
3	Saint-Jean-d'Aulps	Haute-Savoie	1,580	+4.95 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,241 → 1,580 inhab.	A
4	Saulx-les-Chartreux	Essonne	6,593	+4.95 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 5,181 → 6,593 inhab.	A
5	Grand-Santi	Guyane	8,859	+4.91 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 6,969 → 8,859 inhab.	D
6	Saint-Denis-Lanneray	Eure-et-Loir	2,164	+4.91 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,703 → 2,164 inhab.	B
7	Villemaréchal	Seine-et-Marne	1,096	+4.91 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 862 → 1,096 inhab.	B
8	Montsinéry-Tonnegrande	Guyane	3,141	+4.90 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 2,473 → 3,141 inhab.	C
9	Tigery	Essonne	4,380	+4.90 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 3,449 → 4,380 inhab.	A
10	Blyes	Ain	1,269	+4.88 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,000 → 1,269 inhab.	B
11	Villeneuve-sur-Aisne	Aisne	2,780	+4.86 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 2,193 → 2,780 inhab.	B
12	Domblans	Jura	1,220	+4.85 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 963 → 1,220 inhab.	B
13	Rouillac	Charente	2,940	+4.85 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 2,321 → 2,940 inhab.	B
14	Bassens	Savoie	5,063	+4.83 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 3,998 → 5,063 inhab.	A
15	Neydens	Haute-Savoie	2,271	+4.83 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,794 → 2,271 inhab.	B
16	Saint-Fuscien	Somme	1,355	+4.83 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,070 → 1,355 inhab.	B
17	Beaufort-Orbagna	Jura	1,422	+4.80 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,125 → 1,422 inhab.	B
18	Beaulieu	Hérault	2,176	+4.76 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,724 → 2,176 inhab.	B
19	Mouazé	Ille-et-Vilaine	1,761	+4.76 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,395 → 1,761 inhab.	B
20	Restinclières	Hérault	2,183	+4.76 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,730 → 2,183 inhab.	B
21	Mareau-aux-Prés	Loiret	1,576	+4.75 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,250 → 1,576 inhab.	B
22	Ferrières-en-Brie	Seine-et-Marne	3,796	+4.73 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 3,012 → 3,796 inhab.	A
23	Fontenay-le-Vicomte	Essonne	1,565	+4.70 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,244 → 1,565 inhab.	A
24	Saint-Selve	Gironde	3,488	+4.68 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 2,775 → 3,488 inhab.	C
25	Goincourt	Oise	1,560	+4.63 %/yr Strongly rising	2015–2020 1,244 → 1,560 inhab.	A

Emptying fastest

#	Municipality	Province	Population	Change	Measured over	Grade
1	Papaichton	Guyane	5,684	-4.80 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 7,266 → 5,684 inhab.	E
2	Tignes	Savoie	2,016	-4.73 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,569 → 2,016 inhab.	B
3	Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer	Bouches-du-Rhône	2,123	-4.56 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,680 → 2,123 inhab.	B
4	Anse-Bertrand	Guadeloupe	3,871	-4.53 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 4,881 → 3,871 inhab.	D
5	Basse-Pointe	Martinique	2,727	-4.08 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 3,357 → 2,727 inhab.	D
6	Maripasoula	Guyane	9,768	-3.80 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 11,856 → 9,768 inhab.	E
7	Sumène	Gard	1,308	-3.59 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,570 → 1,308 inhab.	C
8	Saint-Tropez	Var	3,600	-3.52 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 4,305 → 3,600 inhab.	A
9	Bellegarde	Loiret	1,446	-3.47 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,725 → 1,446 inhab.	B
10	Molières-sur-Cèze	Gard	1,209	-3.40 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,437 → 1,209 inhab.	C
11	Gordes	Vaucluse	1,666	-3.33 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,974 → 1,666 inhab.	C
12	Collioure	Pyrénées-Orientales	2,400	-3.29 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,838 → 2,400 inhab.	B
13	Saint-Trojan-les-Bains	Charente-Maritime	1,133	-3.20 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,333 → 1,133 inhab.	C
14	Varzy	Nièvre	1,053	-3.02 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,227 → 1,053 inhab.	B
15	La Roquebrussanne	Var	2,184	-2.97 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,540 → 2,184 inhab.	C
16	Bléneau	Yonne	1,164	-2.95 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,352 → 1,164 inhab.	B
17	Dinéault	Finistère	1,864	-2.95 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,164 → 1,864 inhab.	B
18	Houlgate	Calvados	1,689	-2.90 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,956 → 1,689 inhab.	B
19	Châtillon-sur-Indre	Indre	2,326	-2.79 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,681 → 2,326 inhab.	B
20	Briançon	Hautes-Alpes	10,780	-2.72 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 12,370 → 10,780 inhab.	B
21	Grande-Synthe	Nord	20,635	-2.68 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 23,634 → 20,635 inhab.	B
22	Montcenis	Saône-et-Loire	1,905	-2.68 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 2,182 → 1,905 inhab.	C
23	Bonnieux	Vaucluse	1,190	-2.66 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,362 → 1,190 inhab.	C
24	Vinsobres	Drôme	1,025	-2.63 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,171 → 1,025 inhab.	C
25	Rougemont	Doubs	1,028	-2.61 %/yr Strongly declining	2015–2020 1,173 → 1,028 inhab.	B

Every figure on this page is measured over 2015–2020, the window this country’s statistics office publishes. Computed from the two published figures at each end of the window — the statistics office publishes no annual series here, so nothing is known about the years in between.

What this number is

Compound annual change in registered residents: the rate that, compounded over the window, gets from the first figure to the last. Annualised on purpose — the four statistics offices publish windows of 10, 5, 6 and 10 years under one label, so comparing their raw percentages would rank countries by how wide a window each happens to publish.

Unlike the A→G grades, this is an absolute rate, not a ranking. Two towns with the same %/yr have the same number wherever they are — within a country. Across countries the windows differ, which is why there is a page per country and no combined league table.

It measures the register, not the people. A purge of non-renewing foreign residents, a change in how registration is enforced, or students registered at their parents’ address all move it without anyone moving house.

Population momentum is not part of any grade shown on this page. The grade column is TerraNova’s usual A→G composite, shown so you can see whether a growing town is also a good one — they are frequently not the same towns.

France’s window closed in 2020: INSEE has published no newer population légale vintage into this pipeline, so these figures are five years older than Spain’s and describe a different period. That window also contains the communes nouvelles merger wave, and a merged commune’s growth is partly its neighbour’s population arriving on paper.

What this page is holding back

24,052 rated municipalities are under 1,000 inhabitants and are not ranked here. Below that size a single housing development, or one purge of the register, dominates the rate. Ungated, this list would open with L'Orée-d'Écouves — 773 inhabitants, +32.40 %/yr.
162 move faster than ±5 %/yr and are held back. At that scale a municipal boundary change — a merger, or a village splitting off — is a likelier explanation than migration. We hold no per-year boundary vintages, so we cannot tell the two apart, and we would rather leave a row out than headline a redrawn boundary as an exodus.

Both are ranking thresholds, not data limits. Every one of these municipalities still carries its own momentum figure on its own page.

The same ranking elsewhere

The fastest-growing towns in Spain The fastest-growing towns in Italy The fastest-growing towns in Portugal All guides Methodology