The visit to Mayotte de Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and Overseas, from August 21 to 23, was placed under the sign of the fight against illegal immigration. The various announced measures essentially aim at strengthening controls and intensifying the repair on the border. It is undeniable that the development of Mayotte goes through the mastery of this strong immigration.
However, even if the number of immigrants were to decrease significantly in the future – which remains hypothetical given the persistence of development differences between Mayotte and the Union of Comoros -, the demographic dynamics of the population Mahoran is a major development issue. This essential point nevertheless seems too little present in the current debates linked to the future of the “Hippocampus Island”.
The increase in the population is made at a record rate on this narrow territory of 374 square kilometers. During the 2017 census, Mayotte had 256,518 inhabitants, 43,900 more than in 2012. The population workforce has increased tenfold since 1958, quadruple between 1985 and 2017, and doubled over the past twenty years. Regulating this demographic pressure constitutes one of the most demanding challenges to be met for the island.
Since the 2011 departmentalization, the population growth rate is 3.8 % on an annual average, a level far beyond that of all other French departments (including Guyana). This increase mainly breaks the long -term trend which was that of a slowdown in population growth: starting from a record rate of 5.8 % per year in the late 1980s, the increase had gradually slowed down until ‘In 2012. Over the period 2007-2012, it was “only” 2.7 % per year.
The analysis of the Mahoran demographic dynamics naturally leads to studying the characteristics of the natural movement – excess births on deaths – and those of the migratory movement. The natural movement brought an average of the island, between 2012 and 2017, 7,700 additional inhabitants per year. It is the result of a strong birth rate (4.9 children per woman against 1.9 in metropolitan France) combined with a small number of deaths (735 in 2017) due to the youth of the population: 30 % of individuals have under 10 years, 50 % under 18 and over 60 and over represent only 4 % of the population (six times less than in continental France).
You have 60.6% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.