Roughly 963 thousand people in France took to the streets to oppose the pension reform proposed by the government. The figure comes from BFMTV, which cited the Ministry of the Interior in its report. The protest movement on that day drew a broad cross-section of society and highlighted a persistent public mandate for changes to retirement policy.
On the fourth day of demonstrations in Paris, approximately 93 thousand participants were observed, marking a new peak compared with earlier days. The Ministry of the Interior reported that around 57 thousand people demonstrated in Paris on February 7, with nationwide participation reaching about 757 thousand demonstrators. These numbers illustrate the scale and spread of the protests across major urban centers and smaller towns alike, underscoring the sustained challenge to the reform plan.
The General Trade Union Confederation later estimated that protests included about 500 thousand participants in Paris and around 2.5 million across the country, signaling a powerful labor and student mobilization against the reform. Concurrently, the French National Union of Students estimated the involvement of roughly 120,000 young people in the demonstrations, showing strong youth engagement in the movement.
At demonstrations in Paris, police actions included the use of tear gas as crowds gathered near major landmarks and government buildings. Reports described tense moments as protesters voiced their grievances and authorities sought to manage crowds without escalation, illustrating the fraught dynamic between public dissent and security measures.
By February 11 in Paris, the nation appeared to be in the midst of what had become the fourth large-scale nationwide demonstration against the pension reform initially announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Born in January. The government’s plan, aimed at gradually raising the retirement age, represented a major policy shift that has sparked widespread debate about workers’ rights, fiscal sustainability, and social fairness as the country grapples with demographic and economic pressures.