Corsica population non-native residents INSEE study, Digi Mart USA News (Corsica, France): According to a study by INSEE, 45% of Corsica’s residents are non-natives, mostly originating from the French mainland. At the same time, one person born in Corsica out of five lives outside the island.
The INSEE study for Corsica is part of a national study conducted this year in all regions of France. It shows that nearly one Corsican resident in two was not born on the island.
Between 2015 and 2025, Corsica gained 32,900 inhabitants, with its population growing by 1.0% per year, a rate three times higher than the national level. This growth is driven essentially by arrivals, since the natural balance is negative.
In 2023, Corsica counted 355,500 inhabitants, including 160,300 born outside the island, representing 45% of the island’s population.
The island ranks among the most attractive territories in France, alongside PACA (48%), Occitanie (45%) and Ile-de-France (44%). By contrast, in the Hauts-de-France and Grand Est regions, fewer than one person in five was born outside the region.
In more detail, seven out of ten non-natives were born in another French region, mainly in the southeast: 20% come from PACA and 16% from Ile-de-France. Some 30% of Corsica’s residents, or 48,000 people, were born abroad, mainly in Morocco and Portugal, a lower share than in 2013, when it was 34%.
Those arriving in Corsica are mainly working-age adults, with 50% of non-natives aged between 30 and 59.
Non-natives from the mainland often hold higher qualifications: 34% have a higher education diploma, 8 points more than natives, and 16% hold management positions.
Conversely, 21% of Corsica’s natives have moved elsewhere, representing 52,100 people, most of them in PACA (35%) and Ile-de-France. Finally, among those arriving on the island each year, 11.5% are natives of Corsica, often students returning after their studies.
