La situation démographique en 1967
Authors: Hémery Solange , Dinh Quang Chi 
Published: September 2019

The demographic situation in 1967.

The fall in the marriage rate and the fertility rate which started about the middle of 1964, has since continued, as witnessed by the detailed results for 1967, presented in the following pages, and the provisional data at present available for 1968.

The increase in the number of marriages and the gross marriage rate in 1967 and 1968 compared with previous years is essentially due to the arrival at marrying age of the post- War « bulge » ; it masks a fall in the marriage rate started in 1965. This fall is general in both sexes and all ages.

The gross birth rate (number of births per 1000 population), fell by 7.1 % between 1964 and 1967 and 8.2 % between 1964 and 1968. Measured in terms of fertility, the fall appears much greater. For identical age and matrimonial status, the fertility of women between 15 and 49 has fallen by 10.1 % and 12.1 % over the same two periods respectively.

The fertility of couples — disregarding marriages celebrated during the year of observation, where fertility largely results from pre-marital conception, and follows its own special trend — also shows a fall, whatever the lenght of the marriage. As already found in 1966, the fall is greatest among couples who have already had two or three children.

The gross death rate (number of deaths per 1000 population) which had fallen steadily since 1946 to a new low of 10.66 °/oo in 1965, increased slightly in 1967 (10.8 %o) and 1968 (11.0 %o).

The infantile mortality rate, which had stabilised in 1966 (21.7 deaths of children under one year per 1000 live births, compared with 21.9 in 1965) fell by 4.5 % in 1967 (20.7 %o).

A further fall reduced this rate to 20.4 °/oo in 1968. The rate of fall in the infantile mortality rate, which was 7 % per annum between 1949 and 1961, has therefore fallen sharply since then (the first fall having been recorded between 1961 and 1963), as has been found in a number of European countries.

Immigration of foreign workers has been lower than in previous years (in 1967, 19 % fewer entries than in 1966 and 30 % fewer than in 1964 and 1965). Total population growth in 1967 amounted to 432,000 or 0.87 % of the population at 1 January (0.60 % by excess of births over deaths and 0.27 % attributable to immigration). This growth is about 1 % less than in previous years (excluding repatriations in the years 1962 to 1964).

Readers will find here the main vital statistics 1967. Only brief comments are given on the results obtained. For a fulled understanding of the demographic trend in France during recent year, reference may be made to G. Calot and S. Hemery's paper published in the first issue of « Economie et Statistique ».

The estimate of population on 1st January 1968 tabulated by sex, age and matrimonial status given here is based on the Census results of March 1962. It will be up-dated when the statistical results of the last Population Census taken in March 1968 are known. However, the publication on these figures seemed necessary for the purpose of comparison betwen the 1967 data and those for previous years. When the detailed results of the 1968 Census become available, the demographic trend of the intercensal period (1962-1968) will be reviewed as a whole.