Population development in French Polynesia

Population development in French Polynesia since 1960

(Data given in 1000 inhabitants)

Annual growth rates in percent

Urbanization trends in French Polynesia

The term urbanization refers to the proportion of the population that lives in cities rather than in the countryside. In 2025, the degree of urbanization in French Polynesia was 62 percent. The largest cities in the country include Faaa, Papeete, and Punaauia. Compared to the previous year, the proportion of the population living in cities increased by around 0.063%. Life in the countryside is thus becoming slightly less attractive and residents are moving to the cities. However, this development is not drastic. As a rule, life in the city is more expensive, but offers better infrastructure and job opportunities. Over the last 10 years, the increase in city dwellers has been around 0.0034 percent p.a. French Polynesia recorded the most significant increase in 1966, at 2.5 percent. The sharpest decline was in 1993, at -0.52 percent.

Urbanization has been increasing worldwide for a long time, but the graph does not show any drastic changes. At a global level, it has increased by around 0.62 percent annually. The proportion of the world's population living in urban areas has therefore averaged 57.3%.

French Polynesia worldwide

Development of life expectancy

Life expectancy is the number of years a newborn child is statistically expected to live at the time of birth. It primarily reflects the level of healthcare in the country, but also temporary influences such as wars and civil unrest.

If we look at the difference between 1960 and 2024, life expectancy for women rose from 57.9 to 86.6 years during this period. That is an increase of 28.7 years, or around 33 percent. For men, it was 27.0 years, from 54.9 to 81.9 (33%).

Female Male

Birth and death rate in French Polynesia

Population growth is the result of the birth rate, the mortality rate and the migration rate. For example, the year 2024 in the graph: The population in French Polynesia increased by about 690 inhabitants. In the same year, the death rate was 3.8 per 1,000 people (~ 1,070 deaths) and the birth rate was 10.7 per 1,000 people (~ 3,000 births). As a result, around 1,240 inhabitants have migrated to other countries.

Over the past 10 years, the number of average deaths per year was 1,019 in French Polynesia. The number of births was 3,494 annually.

The changes in births and deaths is displayed in the following graph. All data refer to births or deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.

Birth rate Death rate

National migrant stock from 1960 to 2024

In 2024 a total of 30,099 migrants lived in French Polynesia, representing about 10.7 percent of the total population. These are all residents who live permanently in the country but were born in another country. The numbers includes granted refugees but no asylum seekers. The data are based on the results of censuses, as well as on estimates and projections from the United Nations Population Division. The data is only collected approximately every 5 years. More recent data is not yet available.

Asylum applications in French Polynesia

In 2003, a total of zero applications for asylum were made in French Polynesia. On the other hand, there were no refugees from French Polynesia who sought asylum in other countries. The bottom line, including pending applications, was an outflow of 1 people. This corresponds to only 0.00035 percent of the total population and is therefore hardly significant.