France faces demographic shift as deaths exceed births

France has recorded a negative natural balance for the first time since 1945, with 651,000 deaths exceeding 645,000 births in 2025, according to Insee data. This demographic trend is creating significant economic shifts.

The funeral industry is seeing growth, with approximately 6,000 companies and 30,000 employees generating an estimated turnover of 3.5 billion euros. Consumer preferences are also evolving, with cremation rates rising to 46%, up from just 1% in 1980.

Economist Thibault Prébay warns that the French social model was built on the demographic anomaly of the baby boom. He argues that the current imbalance places financial strain on the state and younger generations, suggesting that a profound transformation of the economic model is necessary to address the irreversible decline in birth rates.