Editing Cambrai (section)

===Demographics===
In 2018, the commune had 32,501 inhabitants.<ref name=compar/> 
{{Historical populations
|align=center
|cols=3
|footnote = From 1962 to 1999: Population without double counting; for the years following: municipal population.
|source   = Ldh/[[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences|EHESS]]/Cassini (1793-1999)<ref>{{Cassini-Ehess|6666|Cambrai}}</ref> and INSEE (1968-2017)<ref name=pophis>{{cite web|url= https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-59122|title= Évolution et structure de la population en 2017 |publisher= INSEE|access-date= 1 September 2020}}</ref>
| graph-pos = bottom
 | 1793| 15427
 | 1800| 13799
 | 1806| 15608
 | 1821| 15851
 | 1831| 17646
 | 1836| 17848
 | 1841| 20141
 | 1846| 20648
 | 1851| 21344
 | 1856| 21405
 | 1861| 22557
 | 1866| 22207
 | 1872| 22897
 | 1876| 22079
 | 1881| 23448
 | 1886| 23881
 | 1891| 24122
 | 1896| 25250
 | 1901| 26586
 | 1906| 27832
 | 1911| 28077
 | 1921| 26023
 | 1926| 29193
 | 1931| 28542
 | 1936| 29655
 | 1946| 26129
 | 1954| 29567
 | 1962| 32897
 | 1968| 37584
 | 1975| 39049
 | 1982| 35272
 | 1990| 33092
 | 1999| 33738
 | 2007| 32296
 | 2012| 32847
 | 2017| 32558
}}

The [[urban unit]] (''unité urbaine'') of Cambrai had 46,772 inhabitants in 2018, and the [[functional area (France)|urban area]] (''aire urbaine'') 94,576 inhabitants.<ref name=compar/> In other less populated regions, Cambrai would be an important city, but in [[Nord-Pas-de-Calais]], densely populated and urbanised, the city and its suburbs come far behind [[Lille]] (1,143,125 inhabitants), [[Douai]]-[[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]] (552,682), [[Valenciennes]] (399,677), [[Dunkirk]] (265,974) and [[Maubeuge]] (125,000).

The population of Cambrai increased little over the centuries: Estimated at 10,000 souls in the 15th century, it is, according to a memorandum of intendant who described it as "very diminished", at 12,000 in 1698.<ref group=b>p.95</ref> At the end of the Revolution, in 1801, it was still only approximately 15,000 inhabitants.

It increased slowly but steadily throughout the 19th century with a net decline in the early 20th century: the birth rate, as everywhere else in France, declined. At the same time, infant mortality remained high (20.3% in 1900, 10.2% on the eve of the war),<ref group=b>p.247</ref> which explains the low natural growth.

The population growth resumed at a rapid pace between the end of [[World War II]] and the beginning of the 1970s (the [[Trente Glorieuses]]), through [[Rate of natural increase|natural increase]] ([[Post–World War II baby boom|baby boomers]] and sharp decline of [[infant mortality]]) and the [[Rural flight|rural exodus]], which slowly emptied the villages of Cambrésis of their population (partial) towards the town of Cambrai. This dynamism, however, showed however signs of stalling since 1968: in fact, the progress of jobs (+27.5% from 1952 to 1975) did not follow that of the population (+44.2%).<ref group=b>p.281</ref>

The curve was brutally reversed by the [[1973 oil crisis]]. The city's population plummeted from the 1975 census, net migration which was largely positive in the 1960s became negative, while the natural balance, which remains positive, tends to shrink. Many traditional activities have disappeared (chocolate production, brewery, chicory, weaving, metallurgy, etc.), representing several thousand jobs.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ Demographic evolution 1968–2017<ref name=pophis/>
! scope=row | Period
! scope=col | 1968–1975
! scope=col | 1975–1982
! scope=col | 1982–1990
! scope=col | 1990–1999
! scope=col | 1999–2007
! scope=col | 2007–2012
! scope=col | 2012–2017
|-
! scope=row | Average annual population change in %
| +0.5
| −1.4
| −0.8
| +0.2
| −0.5
| +0.3
| −0.2
|-
! scope=row | Due to [[Rate of natural increase|natural increase]]
| +1.1
| +0.7
| +0.5
| +0.4
| +0.3
| +0.2
| -0.0
|-
! scope=row | Due to [[Net migration rate|net migration]]
| −0.6
| −2.1
| −1.3
| −0.1
| −0.9
| +0.1
| −0.2
|}

====Age structure====
The graphics below represent the age structure in 2017 of the population of the commune of Cambrai, and of the Nord department. The population of Cambrai is relatively old, partly compensated by a higher representation of the age group 15–29 years.

{|align="center" width="100%"
|-
|width="50%"|
{{Data bars
| title = Population by age of Cambrai, 2017
| scale = 0.02 | style = 2
| source = INSEE <ref name=pophis/>
| columns = 7   | 90+| 75–89| 60–74| 45–59| 30–44| 15–29| 0–14
| blue|  male| 78| 1126| 2178| 2968| 2675| 3308| 2838
| red | female| 389| 2054| 2984| 3243| 2731| 3399| 2587
}}
|width="50%"|
{{Data bars
| title = Population by age of Nord, 2007 (%)
| scale = 0.0002 | style = 2
| source = INSEE <ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=DEP-59| title = Évolution et structure de la population en 2017: Département du Nord (59)| work = INSEE| access-date = 1 September 2020}}</ref>
| columns = 7   | 90+| 75–95| 60–74| 45–59| 30–44| 15–29| 0–14
| blue|  male | 5383| 64004| 174563| 240736| 247923| 261702| 263076
| red | female| 17447| 110249| 204052| 251359| 254069| 259099| 250699
}}
|}

====Population distribution====
The population distribution of Cambrai (active population aged 15 or more in employment) by {{Interlanguage link multi|Professions and socioprofessional categories in France|fr|3=Professions et catégories socioprofessionnelles en France|lt=socio-professional category}} showed an under-representation of managers and higher intellectual professionals (10.0%) with the French average (16.3%), in 2017, and vice versa slightly higher proportions of [[Manual labour|manual workers]] (28.3% compared with 21.5%) and [[employee]]s (30.2% against 28.5%). The proportion of {{Interlanguage link multi|Profession intermédiaire|fr|3=Profession intermédiaire|lt=intermediate professionals}} is lower (22.8% against 24.8%). The percentage of [[farmer]]s is naturally low in Cambrai (0.2%).<ref name=complet/>

The distribution of the population over the age of 15 years, and not enrolled in study, showed lower education rates than those of metropolitan France in 2017, most significantly in the higher levels (Baccalauréat or Bac+5 years of study).<ref name=complet/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|+ Population not in training over the age of 15 by qualification (%)
! scope="col" | Level
! scope="col" | Cambrai
! scope="col" | France
|-
! scope="row" | No tuition or any diploma
| 27.4
| 22.8
|-
! scope="row" | [[National diploma (France)|BEPC]] or equiv.
| 6.7
| 5.6
|-
! scope="row" | {{Interlanguage link multi|Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle|fr|3=Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle|lt=CAP}} or {{Interlanguage link multi|Brevet d'études professionnelles|fr|3=Brevet d'études professionnelles|lt=BEP}}
| 25.7
| 24.8
|-
! scope="row" | [[Baccalauréat|Bac]] or {{Interlanguage link multi|Brevet professionnel|fr|3=Brevet professionnel|lt=BP}}
| 16.9
| 16.9
|-
! scope="row" | Bac+2
| 9.6
| 10.9
|-
! scope="row" | Bac+3 or +4
| 7.8
| 8.9
|-
! scope="row" | Bac+5 or more
| 5.9
| 10.1
|}