Breton Cuisine - Demographics

Demographics

In 2012, the population in Region Brittany was estimated to 3,195,317 and Loire-Atlantique had around 1,303,103 inhabitants, thus historical Brittany's population can be estimated at 4,552,918, the highest in its history. The population in Region Brittany had grown by 0.9% between 1999 and 2000, and the growth rate reached more than 1% in Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. The region around Rennes and the south are the more attractive areas, whereas the population is declining in the centre and in the westernmost parts. While most of the metropolitan areas are growing, the cities themselves tend to stagnate or regress, such as for Brest, Lorient, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. In 2008, Ille-et-Vilaine had 967,588 inhabitants, it was followed by Morbihan, 710,034 inhabitants, Finistère 890,509 inhabitants, and Côtes-d'Armor, with 581,570 inhabitants. The largest cities in Region Brittany were Rennes, with 206,655, Brest, 142,097, Quimper, 63,929, Lorient, 58,148, Vannes, 52,983, Saint-Malo, 48,211, and Saint-Brieuc, 45,879. All the other communes had under 20,000 inhabitants. Brittany is also characterised by a great number of small towns, such as Vitré, Concarneau, Morlaix or Auray. Loire-Atlantique has two major cities, Nantes, with 283,288 inhabitants and a urban area emcompassing 873,133, and Saint-Nazaire, with 67,031 inhabitants. Loire-Atlantique's population is more rapidly growing than Region Brittany's and it is the 12th most populated French département.

In 1851, Brittany had around 2,7 million inhabitants and the demographic growth stayed low until the second half of the 20th century, mainly because of an important emigration. Brittany had 3,2 million inhabitants in 1962 and the growth was mainly due to Loire-Atlantique and the steady growth of Nantes. Without the Loire-Atlantique's figures, the Breton population only numbered 2,4 millions in 1962, and 2,3 in 1851. After the 1960s, the whole region has had a strong demographic growth because of the decline of the traditional emigration to richer French regions. Instead, Brittany has become attractive, particularly for families, young retired persons and active people over 35 years old.

Brittany do not have a strong proportion of foreigner residents. Together with naturalised French people, they form approximately 2% of the total population. They mainly come from European countries such as the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain, from former French colonies like Morocco, Algeria, Vietnam, Côte d'Ivoire or Senegal, and from Turkey.