Key figures

Population

The number of transgender or non-binary people in France has never been assessed. However, it can be assumed that the proportion of transgender or non-binary people in France is close to that of Canada, which conducted a population census in 2021 that included a question on gender identity. This proportion is 0.33 % of the general population, which would correspond in France to more than 180,000 transgender or non-binary people.

There are strong intergenerational disparities in the ability to identify oneself as transgender: in Canada, 0.73 % of people aged 15-19 are transgender or non-binary, but only 0.13 % among those aged 65 or older.

Healthcare

Being trans does not automatically mean undergoing a medical transition – far from it. According to data from the national health insurance system cited in the Picard-Jutant report, 8,952 people had ALD 31 (“trans identities”) status in France in 2020. This corresponds to a medicalization rate of 5 % of the trans or non-binary population (estimated on the basis of Canadian data). This is, however, a low estimate : not all trans or non-binary people who undergo a medical transition have ALD 31 status, and moreover this 5 % figure excludes trans or non-binary people who have already undergone a medical transition (and have stopped or completed it).

The study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights makes it possible to estimate the proportion of trans or non-binary people who have already received gender-affirming care (hormones, surgeries, etc.) : this proportion was 17 % in France. Among those who had not received such care, the main explanatory factor for half of them was that they did not feel the need for it. However, discriminatory factors contributing to non-medicalization also come into play : 24 % had not accessed care because they experienced negative reactions from healthcare professionals, 17 % could not afford it, 10 % did not know whom to contact, and 10 % could not or did not want to obtain a psychiatric diagnosis required prior to care.

For young people, medical transition is even rarer : in 2020, 294 minors benefited from ALD 31, corresponding to a medicalization rate of 0.8 % of trans or non-binary minors (a low estimate). In the same year, a total of 48 minors received surgical care (non-genital). The study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights estimates that 1.9 % of trans or non-binary young people aged 15-17 have already received gender-affirming care.

In France, the number of transfeminine and transmasculine people receiving care is broadly equal, according to information from the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) from 2019, cited in the Picard-Jutant report (2022).

Detransitions

What is detransition? According to the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé), “detransition is a term that covers several realities (stopping a transition, discontinuing a transition, reorientation), which may or may not be accompanied by regret” (source).

The most recent and robust data show that stability of gender identity among supported trans youth is the norm.

• 4 % : This is the proportion of young people who socially transitioned during childhood and returned to their sex assigned at birth five years later, according to a longitudinal study conducted by Princeton University (2025) involving more than 900 children. Conversely, more than 95 % of young people maintain their trans identity or evolve toward a non-binary identity.
• Less than 0.3 % : This is the detransition rate identified by the audit of Hilary Cass’s UK report. Out of 3,306 patients followed by the specialized GIDS service (Tavistock) between 2018 and 2022, fewer than 10 cases of detransition were observed.

Transphobia

The French survey Virage LGBT conducted by INED (2020) examined gender-based violence among LGBT people (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trans people). It found that 60 % of trans people experience intrafamilial violence – whether physical, psychological, or sexual – which is significantly higher than among cisgender lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (45 %). Nearly 1 in 5 trans young people are forced out of the parental home due to conflict, compared with 1 in 10 cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual young people. Nearly 80 % of trans people have already experienced violence in public spaces, including sexual harassment, insults, physical or sexual violence, again significantly more than cisgender lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (66 %).

The study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights shows that nearly one quarter of trans people in France avoid disclosing their trans identity to their family for fear of being assaulted, threatened, or harassed. At school, 45 % of trans youth in France often or always experience hostile comments or behaviors because they are trans. More than two thirds of trans youth have been mocked, bullied, insulted, or threatened at school because they are trans, particularly by their peers (64 % of trans youth) and even by educational staff (22 % of trans youth). For 78 % of trans people surveyed in France, schools never intervened to address LGBTI-related issues.

Suicidality

Self-harming and suicidal behaviors are very high among trans people, notably as a result of the transphobia they experience on a daily basis. Studies in Europe, the United States, and Canada report a lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts ranging from 22 to 43 %, and 9 to 10 % over the previous year among trans people (Condat et al., 2022)

Among younger people, a US study conducted by UCLA (2019) shows that 86 % of 18-24-year-olds have thought about suicide, and 42 % have attempted it. Among trans people, the number of major discrimination experiences suffered over the past 12 months is strongly correlated with the annual rate of suicide attempts : while 5 % of trans people who experienced no major discrimination during the year nevertheless attempted to end their life that year, this proportion rises to 51 % among those who experienced four major discriminations in the same year.

At the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital clinic, across 239 clinical cases, we find fairly similar figures : at the first consultation, 38 % of the children and adolescents seen had experienced bullying at school; 33 % had already dropped out of school for a period of at least three months; 60 % presented with major depressive disorder; and 24 % had already attempted suicide (Condat et al., 2022).

Co-occurring Mental Health Conditions

Since trans identities are not a mental illness, we do not speak of “comorbidities” but rather of “co-occurring” mental health conditions.

The British prospective study by Holt et al. (2014), involving 218 trans children and adolescents with a mean age of 14 years, identified bullying contexts in 49.4 % of transfeminine youth and 45.3 % of transmasculine youth; suicidal ideation in 38.3 %, equally across both sexes assigned at birth; autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in 18.5 % of transfeminine youth and 10.2 % of transmasculine youth; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 12.3 % of transfeminine youth and 5.8 % of transmasculine youth Enfin beaucoup plus rarement, des troubles schizophréniques chez 3,7 % des jeunes transféminines et 5,8 % des jeunes transmasculins (cf. Condat et al., 2022).