INSEE population census data

New results from the Population Census (RP2022 – INSEE)

Published on December 9, 2025

The annualIRIScensus is now available. It is an essential resource for understandingregional dynamicsat the grassroots level.
Socio-demographic factors are constantly changing and Ciril GROUP makes it a point of honor to update this key data to reflect the reality on the ground and strengthen the reliability of your decisions.

 

A variety of data to cover the entire sociodemographic structure of the territories

 

INSEE provides more than400 variables, which Ciril GROUP enriches to generateseveral thousand indicatorsfor analyzing all major topics:

  • Population:number of inhabitants, breakdown by age and gender
  • Households & families:socio-professional categories, family structures, number of children, single persons, single-parent families, etc.
  • Housing:types, sizes, age, occupancy types (owners, tenants, social housing, etc.), second homes, vacancy rates, length of occupancy
  • Work:active workers, types of employment, unemployment, educational attainment levels, etc.
  • Mobility:modes of transportation, workplace

 

Whether expressed in terms of volume, share, or density, these indicators—when chosen wisely—become a powerful tool for understanding territories.

Products and models exclusive to Ciril GROUP

 

Combined with other data sources, these variables are also a component of many products exclusive to CIRIL GROUP:

  • Commercial Attractiveness Territories (TAC)
  • IRIS typology
  • Retail KPIs:number of stores per capita, equipment levels, competitive pressure, catchment areas, etc.
  • And many more

 

An essential foundation for geomarketing

 

This fine granularity feeds our geomarketing solutions GEO Business and EasyRetail. It allows us to reconstruct indicators at all scales—municipalities, postal codes, counties, regions—but also based on our business benchmarks such as Commercial Attractiveness Territories (TAC), and above all,your own catchment areas.

The updated INSEE data is also integrated directly into:

  • market and location studies
  • network mesh or performance analyses
  • regional diagnostics
  • economic potential assessment maps

 

Each map thus becomes a genuine decision-making tool that is clear, operational, and immediately usable.

 

Some examples of issues resolved using INSEE data

 

  1. Prioritize areas with high potential
    To ensure reliable growth, are you looking to prioritize areas with more than 100,000 individual homes, at least 20% of which are high-income households? How can you quickly identify and delineate these areas?
  2. Measuring a population pool around a location
    Your experience has shown that you need at least 5,000 adults within 5 minutes. How can you obtain this figure in just a few clicks?
  3. Identify the areas that correspond to your core target market
    If your customer base consists of seniors living in urban areas, which areas really fit your business model?
  4. Need assistance
    Not sure? Our teams can carry out acustomized studyto secure your projects.

 

On GEO Business, a large INSEE dataset is already available in theStarter Pack.

Why go down to the IRIS scale?

 

Focus: demographic trends in the department over five years

  Since the post-COVID period, internal migration among French citizens has been redrawing the demographic map. Trends observed:
  • Strong growth on theAtlantic and Mediterranean coasts, in theAlpineregions, and inthe Île-de-France region(excluding Paris).
  • Significant decline in thediagonal of emptiness, but also inHauts-de-FranceandNormandy.
  • Paris continues to lose residents, a trend that began several years ago.
Population change over 5 years by department

However, these findings must be qualified: a departmental reading often masks very significant disparities.

Example: the Nord department, a region of striking contrasts

With its2.6 million inhabitants, the North remains the most populous department in France. Overall, it appears to be virtually stable (+0.5%). However, internal dynamics are far from uniform.

Population change over 5 years by municipality in the Nord department (59)
Growing cities:
  • Lille:+2.54%
  • Roubaix:+2.59%
  • Tourcoing:+1.84%
  Cities in decline:
  • Dunkirk:-0.39%
  • Villeneuve-d'Ascq:-1.68%
  • Valenciennes:-0.82%
  On the 648 municipalities of the department:
  • 295gain residents
  • 343lose
  • 10are stagnating
  Here again, cities can be full of contrasts, hence the need for analysis at the IRIS scale. The contrasts are even more striking: rapidly growing neighborhoods exist alongside areas in decline, confirming the need for micro-spatial analysis.
Population growth over 5 years according to IRIS in Lille

Which scale should be used?

  It all depends on your goals:
  • Local study, precise location:use theIRIS scale, or even the200 m grid(other data available from Ciril GROUP).
  • National development plan:rely onCommercial Attractiveness Territories (TAC), an exclusive product from Ciril GROUP built according to real travel dynamics and commercial polarity.
The TAC, nearly 700 in France, offer a completely business-oriented perspective. A full article will be available soon, but here is a preview: the demographic analysis covers the major trends in each department, with much greater operational detail. In northern France, the TACs for the Lille metropolitan area are growing significantly, while those for Dunkirk and the Valenciennes–Maubeuge basin are declining.
census INSEE data TAC
census INSEE data TAC

INSEE publication: key takeaways

  INSEE releases its data in two stages:
  • Summer:municipal data—early, but still too macro for detailed geomarketing applications
  • Fall:IRIS data—ideal for analyzing local markets and dynamics neighborhood by neighborhood
  Why is "RP 2022" coming out in 2025? The census is based on 5 rolling years : RP 2022 = data from 2020 → 2024, published in 2025 (median year 2022).
RECENT ARTICLES

News

All articles