A tenth of people who lived in France in 2021 were born abroad, the national statistics agency INSEE said in its first survey on immigration in a decade, AFP reported.

Almost seven million people, or 10.3 percent of all people in France this year, are immigrants, meaning "born as a foreigner in a foreign country," it said.

For comparison, in 1968, 6.5% of French residents were foreigners, adds the publication.

More than a third of immigrants to France in 2021 acquired French citizenship, the report said.

Immigrants and their descendants have largely blended into society, and many have children born in France, the survey shows.

In the third generation, nine out of ten people have only one or two grandparents who immigrated to France.

Migration has contributed to the country's diverse composition, said Sylvie Le Minez of the statistics agency.

"A third of France's population has been linked to immigration for three generations," she said.

While immigrants came mostly from southern Europe half a century ago, in 2021 many came from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, Le Minez said.

More than 12 percent of immigrants this year were born in Algeria, another 12 percent in Morocco and 4 percent in Tunisia, the study said.

More than 8% are from Portugal, 4% from Italy, more than 3% from Turkey and about 3% from Spain, it added.

Just over half of all immigrants are women.

Most of them have headed to the big cities, including the capital, where up to a fifth of the population comes from abroad.

Le Minez said that despite the increase in immigration in recent years, France is within the European average. It lags behind Germany and Spain.

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