Chômage et population active sur le littoral français en 2016 et son évolution depuis 1999

In 2016, nearly 3.6 million workers lived in French coastal municipalities (excluding Mayotte). The unemployment rate for those aged 15-64 was 19.2%, five points higher than the national average (14.1%). Within French coastal areas, the situation varied between mainland coastal regions and overseas coastal territories. On mainland shores, the unemployment rate was 16.1% (two points higher than the national average), compared to 30.9% in overseas departments.

• On French coasts, between 1999 and 2016, the unemployment rate fell despite a rise observed since 2009. The decrease was 6 points for overseas coasts and 1.4 points for mainland coasts. The largest declines were recorded in the Caribbean, Réunion, and the Mediterranean coast. • Over the same period, the unemployment rate rose by +0.8 points on mainland France (12.9% in 1999 versus 13.6% in 2016) and +0.6 points in all of France (excluding Mayotte).

In inland municipalities (non-coastal communities in coastal cantons) on the mainland, the unemployment rate for those aged 15-64 in 2016 was 12.4%, four points lower than coastal municipalities and 1.7 points below the national average.

In 2016, nearly 2.8 million workers lived in mainland coastal municipalities, representing 42.4% of the total population in these areas. With approximately 455,200 unemployed people, the unemployment rate for those aged 15-64 reached 16.1%, 2.5 points higher than the mainland average (13.6%).

The unemployment rate showed major disparities between maritime coasts. With a rate of 18.5%, the Eastern Channel-North Sea coast had the highest unemployment rate of the four maritime coasts, compared to 14.1% for the North Atlantic coast.

From 1999 to 2016, across the entire mainland coast, the unemployment rate fell by 1.4 points despite a rise observed since 2009. Over this period, the unemployment rate decreased by 3.2 points on the Mediterranean coast, remained stable in the Eastern Channel-North Sea, and increased on the North Atlantic-Western Channel coasts (+0.9 points) and South Atlantic coast (+0.4 points).

In coastal municipalities of overseas departments (excluding Mayotte), approximately 231,600 workers aged 15-64 were unemployed, representing 30.9% of the active population. The breakdown by department was as follows: approximately 33% in Réunion, nearly 25% in Martinique, and 30% in Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

Over 1999-2016, with the exception of French Guiana where unemployment rose by 1.6 points, the rate fell in other overseas departments: -8.1 points in Martinique, -7 points in Réunion, and -6.4 points in Guadeloupe.

• Approximately 430,500 workers lived in coastal municipalities of the Eastern Channel-North Sea coast, representing 13.5% of workers in mainland coastal areas. These workers represented 43% of the population living on this coast. With 79,700 workers aged 15-64 unemployed, the unemployment rate for this coast was approximately 18.5%, the highest of the four mainland maritime coasts (mainland coastal average: 16.1%). • This rate showed significant territorial disparities. The most affected departments were Pas-de-Calais (22.9%), Nord (20.7%), and Seine-Maritime (19.4%). Unemployment decreased significantly in the western part of the coast (13.4% in Manche, 13.8% in Calvados, and 11.8% in Eure). • For this coast, 19 of 245 coastal municipalities had unemployment rates above 20%. Most of these were urban: Dunkerque, Grande-Synthe, Grand-Fort-Philippe, Berck, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Étaples, Le Portel, Dieppe, Fécamp, Gonfreville-l'Orcher, Le Havre, Le Tréport, and its neighboring municipality Mers-les-Bains. Two were periurban (Quillebeuf-sur-Seine and Équihen-Plage) and three were rural (Ault, Cayeux-sur-Mer, and Quend).

• Nearly 695,000 workers lived in coastal municipalities of the North Atlantic-Western Channel maritime coast, representing 41.8% of the population living on this territory. Major employment centers were few. With 64,800 workers, the municipality of Brest had approximately 9.3% of this coast's workers. The municipalities of Saint-Nazaire, Lorient, Vannes, Quimper, Saint-Brieuc, and Saint-Malo each accounted for between 3 and 5% of the coast's active population. • The unemployment rate for those aged 15-64 reached 14.1% with approximately 97,900 people in this situation. This was the lowest unemployment rate of the four maritime coasts. The rate varied little along this coast: in the north, it was approximately 13% (Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-d'Armor coasts) versus 15% in the south (Vendée). • Among the 333 coastal municipalities on this coast, five had unemployment rates above 20%: Pontrieux, Morlaix, Damgan, Gâvres, Angles, and La-Tranche-sur-Mer. It should be noted that for the entire coast, unemployment was higher in urban centers (15.2% on average) compared to 10.9% for periurban areas and 12.8% for rural coastal municipalities.

• Approximately 302,700 workers lived in coastal municipalities of the South Atlantic coast, representing 42.1% of the total population on this territory. Like the North Atlantic-Western Channel coast, this territory had few major employment centers. La Rochelle stood out with just over 31,900 workers. Followed by Bayonne (23,800), Anglet (16,900), La Teste-de-Buch (11,500), Rochefort (10,300), Biarritz (9,400), and Gujan-Mestras (9,000). These seven municipalities grouped one-third of workers living on this coast. • In 2016, approximately 47,500 workers aged 15-64 were unemployed in coastal municipalities of the South Atlantic coast, representing a rate of 15.7%. Within this coast, the rate was higher in Charente-Maritime (17.3%) than in Pyrénées-Atlantiques (14.4%). • Among the 137 coastal municipalities making up this coast, 15 had unemployment rates above 20%. Most were rural (Mortagne-sur-Gironde, Saint-Denis-d'Oléron, Saint-Georges-d'Oléron, La-Brée-les-Bains, Talais, Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Moliest-et-Maa, and Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains), one-third were urban (Rochefort, La Rochelle, Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, Blaye, and Capbreton), and two were periurban (Barzan and Talmont-sur-Gironde). • While for urban centers and rural coastal municipalities the unemployment rate was homogeneous (16.2% and 16.4% respectively), it was 3 points lower in periurban areas (13.3%).

• Approximately 1.4 million workers lived in Mediterranean coastal municipalities, representing 42.6% of the population living on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille, the largest employment center on the coast, had 362,700 workers, followed by Nice and Toulon with 147,900 and 71,500 workers respectively. These three cities accounted for 41.9% of workers on the Mediterranean coast. • In 2016, on the Mediterranean coast, the number of workers aged 15-64 unemployed was 230,100, representing a rate of 16.5%. This rate was higher in coastal departments of the Occitanie region than on the coast of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region or in Corsica. It reached a maximum in the Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales departments (21.8%) compared to 13.2% in Corsica. • Of the 217 coastal municipalities on the Mediterranean coast, 42 had unemployment rates above 20% (14 urban centers, 11 periurban areas, and 17 rural coastal municipalities). Overall, the unemployment rate varied little between urban centers (16.9%), periurban areas (16%), and rural coastal municipalities (17.2%) on this coast.

The Eastern Channel-North Sea coast stood out from other coasts. The unemployment rate for those aged 15-64 changed little over 1999-2016 and the active population remained stable.

For part of the Mediterranean coast (Corsica, Occitanie, and Alpes-Maritimes), as well as French Guiana, Réunion, Loire-Atlantique, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Gironde, the active population and the number of unemployed both increased. Except in French Guiana, in these territories, the increase in unemployment was smaller than the active population growth. The unemployment rate fell between 1999 and 2016.

In coastal municipalities of three Breton departments (Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère, and Morbihan) and Vendée, unemployment grew faster than the active population. As a result, the unemployment rate rose.

• In Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, and Guadeloupe, the active population increased and unemployment fell. However, unemployment rates remained high in 2016. • > Methodology • > Geographic boundaries are from 2019 • > - unemployment includes people declaring to be job-seeking unemployed; • > - active population includes people declaring: ◦ to be in paid or self-employed work, even part-time; ◦ to be helping a family member in their work without remuneration; ◦ to be an apprentice, paid trainee…; ◦ to be conscripted military personnel while this status existed; ◦ to be job-seeking unemployed.