At least 927 homeless people died in 2025, according to a collective

In a tent, a car, a train station... At least 927 people "without a home" died in 2025, a slight decline compared to 2024, the Les Morts de la Rue collective said on Thursday, which sees it as "a plateau" but "not a drop in mortality". After 938 deaths in 2024, “the count marks a plateau after several years of increase,” writes the collective in its annual report.

But this is “not a drop in mortality”, he asserts, stressing that “the published figures are therefore neither exhaustive nor definitive” and constitute “a documented floor”. The Les Morts de la Rue collective notes that the deaths reported by its institutional partners (Samu social, integrated reception and orientation services (SIAO), City of Paris, State services) have stalled in 2025 after having constituted “the majority of the growth in the census” in recent years.

“A level of the census can be that of its means, and not that of mortality,” insists the collective, which has been carrying out this survey since 2012, also supported by associations, individuals and press monitoring. In detail, among the people reported to have died in 2025, 306 were in a street situation, 264 were housed and 357 for whom the collective was unable to determine the predominant situation. They were 49 years old on average, compared to around 79.5 years in the general population according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (Insee). Among the victims, 20 were under 15 years old.

Although the overwhelming majority are men, the share of women is increasing (14%, compared to 11% over the period 2012-2024), reflecting the increasing feminization of homelessness. The cause of death is unknown in two out of three cases, but, when it is documented, violent deaths (homicides, drownings, suicides, poisonings, etc.) are dominant, especially among 15-25 year olds (60%). With 22 deaths, all occurring in autumn or winter, cold-related mortality reached its highest level since 2012.

It is difficult to know precisely the number of homeless people in France: there are around 350,000 according to the Housing Foundation. The last official assessment from INSEE, which dates back to 2012, estimated their number at 143,000. However, the Institute must unveil updated figures from a new survey by the end of the year.