Share of unemployed people in France 2015-2022, by immigration status

Since the mid-2000s the percentage of people looking for a job in France has gradually increased. However, one pattern remained the same. The immigrant population remains more affected by this phenomenon. In 2022, more than 11.7 percent of immigrants were jobless in France, compared to 6.3 percent of the non-immigrant population. Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, France has been struggling with the issue of unemployment. The unemployment rate reached a record number in 2015, with 10.35 percent.

The characteristics of unemployment in France

Even though France has seen an improvement in its unemployment rate since then, this keeps being one of the country’s main difficulties. In 2017, the unemployment rate for women who were foreigners from outside the European Union (EU) amounted to 23.8 percent. In comparison, that same year, the unemployment rate of French women was of 8.5 percent. Another category of the population particularly affected by unemployment in France is the youth. In 2021, the estimated youth unemployment rate in the country was at 20.09 percent.

Facing discriminations

In a survey from 2016, 23 percent of responding French declared that that have already experienced discrimination based on gender, age, origin, skin, color, religion, or health condition during their professional career. Work areas like the career or the job search were among the fields in which the interviewees reported to have suffered the most from discrimination. Age, gender and origin or skin color were said to be factors that could lead to discrimination not only at work but in everyday life. In 2016, 80 percent of French individuals who have experienced discrimination when looking for a property to rent stated that this discrimination was related to their skin color or their origins.