Some numbers speak for themselves. This Wednesday April 8, 2020, the French National Institute for Statistical and Economic Studies publishes results about consequences of confinement on Paris population. Within the city, 11% of the inhabitants have fled since the beginning of the confinement to go to Greater Paris and to the seaside.
A study which reliability relies on anonymous phone network data from the Orange telecom group. According to the Institute, this percentile could even be of 22 to 23% if are taken into accounts Parisians staying in Paris yearly but don’t live there full time. To calculate this percentage, the Insee has compared data from Orange telephone terminals between March 9th and March 25th, 2020. So, the study could also take into account all cellphone owners in Paris.
Of course, these numbers can be explained by the massive exode of students and tourists or other population categories not living in Paris. The Insee records at least 189,000 Parisians who have gone to their secondary residences. And for some of them, these welcome shelters are set… in Île-de-France. As a matter of fact, the study tells us that Greater Paris departments have enjoyed this general flight since Yvelines, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d’Oise and even Essonne record a 1 to 2.5% increase of their population.
As in the rest of France, departments suffering from and enjoying the most this never-seen-before influx are those Parisians often pick up for vacations. Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy and especially the Atlantic coast saw their frequentation increased. As for departments lining Paris, inner suburbs of Paris, it’s almost the same deficit. For instance, in Hauts-de-Seine, 5% of the global population fled. Today, the only positive consequence of this urban exode remains the level of air pollution, dropping since the beginning of this period.
