New census figures show that the population of France grew by 0.64% in a year, with Southern and Atlantic regions showing the largest growth.

The figures come from INSEE, the French national statistical office.

Between 1999 and 2007, the dates when the last two full census studies were carried out, the population of France (including overseas departments) grew by around 5 million.

The largest increase in the year was in Corsica, the smallest region in the country, which grew by 1.7%.

The Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc Roussillon also showed large increases (1.2% and 1.04% respectively).

There has also been significant growth in Atlantic coastal regions, with Aquitaine growing by 0.99%, and Brittany by 0.83%.

By contrast, the population of the region of Champagne Ardennes remained stagnant (+0.05%), with a similar picture in Nord Pas de Calais (+0.08%).

The figures also show the wide variation in the size of the population between communes. Of the 36,682 communes in France, 19,428 contained less than 500 inhabitants.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are 930 communes each with more than 10,000 inhabitants, where almost half the population (31.5m) live.

Paris is the largest commune (2.2 million inhabitants), while Rochefourchat in the Drôme contains only one inhabitant!

There are also only a handful of inhabitants in Majastres (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Ornes (Meuse) Leménil-Mitry (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and Aulan (Drôme).

France has the second largest population in the EU, behind Germany (82.3 million), where the population is actually in decline, but ahead of the United Kingdom (60.9 million).

Nearly 6% of the population of France are of foreign nationality.

INSEE forecasts that by 2050, the population of the country will rise to 70 million.