France

Women

France ranks 8 out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, where a high rank equals high equality. Women should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Children

France has a Workplace Index score of 1.1, a Marketplace Index score of 2.4 and a Community and Environment Index score of 1.3 in the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, where countries receive scores between 0 and 10. A score closer to 0 reflects a need for basic children’s rights due diligence, while a higher score reflects a need for enhanced or heightened due diligence. Children should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though. 

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Persons with Disabilities

Due to differences in data collection and definitions it is difficult to compare countries on disability prevalence rates. Persons with disabilities should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

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Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

According to the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, the collection of information about an individual’s ethnicity or religious beliefs has been prohibited in France since 1872. Consequently, there is no official data available on the composition of France’s ethnic or religious minorities. In terms of religion, some sources have suggested that the majority (63-66 %) are Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic), 7-9 % are Muslim and less than 1 % are Buddhists and Jews, with between 23-28 % having no religious beliefs. There is significant overlap between ethnicity and religion, with many of the country’s Muslim population originating from North Africa. The French Ministry of Culture and Communication in addition recognizes 14 distinct minority languages and two minority language groups in France, and 47 minority languages in the French overseas territories. The 14 distinct languages are: Western Flemish, Alsatian, Francique, Franco-Provençal, Corsican, Catalan, Basque and Breton, Maghrebi Arabic, Western Armenian, Berber, Romani, Judeo-Spanish and Yiddish. There are 10 recognized Oïl languages: Picard, Norman, Gallo, Walloon, Champenois, Poitevin, Saintongeais, Burgundian, Franc-Comtois and Lorrain. There are six recognized Oc languages: Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpin, Provençal, Languedocian and Gascon. Then there are four variants of French Creole in the French regions of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana and Réunion; four variants of Anglo-Portuguese Creole and six Amer-Indian languages in French Guyana; 28 Melanesian languages in New Caledonia; seven Polynesian languages in French Polynesia; two Malayo-Polynesian languages in Wallis and Futuna; and two Bantu languages in Mayotte. 

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Migrant Workers​

According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, migrant workers as a proportion of all workers is 18.4 % in the subregion Northern, Southern and Western Europe.

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Persons in Armed Conflict

France ranks 159 out of 179 countries in the Fragile States Index, where a high rank equals high fragility. For monthly crisis updates, check out CrisisWatch.