Number of French expatriates registered at French consulates by country (as of December 31, 2011):
at least 100,000
10,000-99,999
1000-9999
100-999
less than 100
The French outside France or French abroad are French citizens who reside outside the French territory . The French term Les Français établis hors de France is an administrative term .
At the end of 2013, 1.6 million French people lived outside France and were registered as such. On average, the proportion increases by three to four percent annually. This figure includes only a fraction of French citizens residing outside the country. In June 2006, around 78,500 French people were registered as residents in Belgium by the French authorities . According to official Belgian statistics, however, around 123,000 French people lived in Belgium at that time, not counting the binational (French-Belgian) citizens. Nearly half of the world's French outside France are binational, and less than 10 percent of them temporarily live abroad.
More than half of the French resident outside France, namely 765,703, live in Europe. As of December 31, 2010, the distribution of the French by consular records was recorded as follows: America 279,095, Asia and Middle East 239,134, Africa 220,069. The five countries with the highest numbers of French expatriates in 2011 were: Switzerland (155,743), the United Kingdom (123,306), the United States (122,686), Germany (114,372) and Belgium (109,426).
Political representation
The French outside France have so far been represented by the Assembly of French Abroad ( Assemblée des Français de l'étranger (AFE) ), an advisory body of 155 members with no resources and no legislative power, as well as twelve senators in the Senate , the French House of Lords ( chambre haute ), represented ( Sénateurs représentant les Français établis hors de France ). Three political associations represent the interests of the French abroad: The Representation of the French Abroad ( Rassemblement des Français de l'étranger ), the Union of the French Abroad ( Union des Français de l'étranger (UFE) ), both politically close to the UMP , and the French Democratic Association Abroad ( Français du Monde (ADFE) ), close to the Socialist Left.
It is now possible for the French outside of France to vote for the French presidential election and for the election to the National Assembly abroad . This new regulation will come into effect for the first time in 2012 . The July 2008 reform of the French Constitution provides that " outside France, the French are represented in the National Assembly and the Senate" (Article 24 of the Constitution). A bill was passed by the Council of Ministers for the French outside France in September 2008 , with the result that they are now represented in the National Assembly. Another draft law on the election of MPs and the redefinition of the electoral districts offers the possibility of electing eleven MPs in the runoff election (identical to the method of choosing the other MPs) of the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2012.
Since 2011 there has been a State Secretary for French people abroad. This post was held successively by David Douillet (June to September 2011) and Édouard Courtial (since September 2011).
statistics
The following statistics show the number of 1,594,303 French registered at French consulates in 2011 who were permanently living abroad as of December 31, 2011, sorted by world region and country.
