I've made the calculations for the French metro areas based on the results of the 2012 census published on Monday. I've also calculated their growth rate in 2011.
In a nutshell, we have a booming "Sunbelt" from Rennes to Bordeaux to Montpellier. The metro areas of Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, and Toulouse in fact recorded their biggest absolute population growth in history in 2011!
The metro areas of Paris, Marseille, and Nice are stagnating. In the case of Paris, that's of course due to the fact that France has a super low net migration, unlike Germany and the UK, so the departure of French people from Paris is not compensated by the arrival of international immigrants as happens in London or Berlin.
Lyon is not booming like the Sunbelt metro areas, but it is growing strong. In fact in 2011 it recorded its highest growth rate since the 1960s economic boom. Its growth rate is still lagging compared to a similar metro area like Munich though, again because of a lack of international immigrants.
Finally the odd surprise was that the usual laggards in the north and north-east of France recovered some growth in 2011: the metro areas of Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg, even rustbelt Saint-Etienne all saw their growth rates rise above the national average. The metro area of Lille even managed to grow by +0.60% in 2011, which hadn't been seen in a long, long, LONG time. Paris is now growing less than Lille and Rouen!
Population on Jan. 1, 2012 (2011 growth rate in parenthesis):
1- Paris metro area: 12,341,418 (
+0.39%)
2- Lyon metro area: 2,214,068 (
+1.16%)
3- Marseille metro area: 1,727,070 (
+0.36%)
4- Toulouse metro area: 1,270,760 (
+1.64%)
5- Lille metro area (French part): 1,166,452 (
+0.60%)
6- Bordeaux metro area: 1,158,431 (
+1.56%)
7- Nice metro area: 1,004,914 (
+0.10%)
8- Nantes metro area: 897,713 (
+1.52%)
Geneva metro area (Swiss & French parts): 844,192 (
+1.48%)
9- Strasbourg metro area (French part) : 768,868 (
+0.64%)
10- Rennes metro area: 690,467 (
+1.56%)
11- Grenoble metro area: 679,863 (
+0.70%)
12- Rouen metro area: 658,285 (
+0.50%)
13- Toulon metro area: 611,237 (
+0.70%)
14- Montpellier metro area: 569,956 (
+1.54%)
15- Douai-Lens metro area: 540,981 (
-0.36%)
16- Avignon metro area: 515,536 (
+0.08%)
17- Saint-Etienne metro area: 512,830 (
+0.84%)
18- Tours metro area: 483,743 (
+0.70%)
19- Clermont-Ferrand metro area: 469,922 (
+0.59%)
20- Nancy metro area: 434,479 (
-0.02%)
Population growth rate in 2011:
- Toulouse metro area: +1.64%
- Rennes metro area: +1.56%
- Bordeaux metro area: +1.56%
- Montpellier metro area: +1.54%
- Nantes metro area: +1.52%
- Geneva metro area (Swiss & French parts): +1.48%
- Lyon metro area: +1.16%
- Saint-Etienne metro area: +0.84%
- Grenoble metro area: +0.70%
- Tours metro area: +0.70%
- Toulon metro area: +0.70%
- Strasbourg metro area (French part): +0.64%
- Lille metro area (French part): +0.60%
- Clermont-Ferrand metro area: +0.59%
- Rouen metro area: +0.50%
METROPOLITAN FRANCE (the European part of France): +0.48%
- Paris metro area: +0.39%
- Marseille metro area: +0.36%
- Nice metro area: +0.10%
- Avignon metro area: +0.08%
- Nancy metro area: -0.02%
- Douai-Lens metro area: -0.36%
