Photo: Papagon · CC BY-SA 4.0A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.7%
Households without a car: 30% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. 43% of households are one person living alone. Second homes are more common here than in 73% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 3,086 residents and 1,460 households in Fumay.
Throughout this page, the Ardennes median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Fumay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fumay had 3,672 residents at the 2012 census and 3,086 in 2023, down 16%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 350 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Fumay’s residents are under 52.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 500 immigrants in Fumay (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 15% of residents, against 6.7% for the median compared commune in Ardennes. 11% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Fumay has changed by −16%, slower than 99% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −5%, and from 2017 to 2023 −11%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Ardennes town −9%.
Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Fumay is over 52.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fumay 52.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Fumay comes in at 9.6%. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 29% here, more than in 83% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 70% of compared French towns: 21%
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 10% in the typical compared French town, 11% of households are single parents here. The benchmark for couples with children in the typical compared French town: 25%. Each household has 2 people on average.
19% of homes stand empty, more than in 99% of compared French towns
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
Where just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Fumay has 17%. By contrast, this Ardennes town has fewer flats than 64% of compared French towns, at 22%. As a yardstick, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €20,000 a year
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
Half of Fumay’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €20,000 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 97% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 27.0% of residents are below the line.
In Fumay, 25% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 96% of compared French towns
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
In Fumay, 41% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker make up 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 86% of compared French towns: 15% of residents are immigrants
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are foreign nationals here. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A larger share of single residents than 78% of compared French towns: 30%
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
In Fumay, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married, beside 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Fumay ranks below 99% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 11%
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
Where nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Fumay has 43%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,057 to 3,114 people), the 7th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Pont-à-Vendin (35.9), the oldest Soulac-sur-Mer (63.7).
No nearby town is as old as Fumay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fumay | 52.3 | 29% | 4.2% | 15% |
| Revin 5,716 · 4.4 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 3% | 12% |
| Bogny-sur-Meuse 4,889 · 9.8 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.5% | 4.3% |
| Givet 6,364 · 11.9 mi | 43 | 21% | 5% | 18% |
| Nouzonville 5,523 · 12.1 mi | 46 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
| Charleville-Mézières 45,560 · 15.5 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Villers-Semeuse 3,615 · 17.2 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 0.5% | 5.8% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Fumay
What is the population of Fumay?
3,086 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% fewer than in 2012 (3,672).
How old are Fumay’s residents?
The median age is 52.3, older than 90% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fumay?
80, with occasional dwellings: 4.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fumay?
INSEE counts 480 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 340 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fumay?
€20,000 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 27.0% of residents live below the poverty line. Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.