New Caledonia's population has declined as birth rates keep falling and the pandemic raised death rates.
The statistics institute released figures for the past two years, which show the number of inhabitants has dropped to below 270,000.
The number of births fell to below 4,000 a year as women have fewer children each year, with the full natural reproduction of the population no longer attainable since 2017.
Petanque in Noumea Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
Mortality has jumped by 28 percent from the period 2015 to 2019, largely because of the impact of the pandemic, which claimed more than 300 lives.
Also, migration has become negative as more people leave than arrive.
The statistics also show that the number of marriages plummeted, in part as a result of the restriction imposed by the government to fight the pandemic.
