Here we can see how unevenly the population is distributed in French Polynesia, since 68.6% of the inhabitants live on the island of Tahiti.

However, the highest growth rate observed between 1988 and 1996 was that occurring in the Tuamotu-Gambier islands, where it reached 24.2%. This was 8% higher than the average figure recorded for the Territory as a whole, as well as being higher than the growth rate previously recorded between the two censuses of 1988 and 1983, when it amounted to only 4.9%.

If we look at the patterns of migration which occurred from 1988 to 1996, the Tuamotu-Gambier archipelago and the Leeward Islands showed large population increases, unlike the Marquesas and Austral Islands. The Leeward islands acquired only 416 new inhabitants, as compared with 1498 in the case of the Tuamotu-Gambier islands.

The map below shows the pattern of growth in the various atolls and islands of the latter archipelago, which seems to be correlated in some cases with the increase in the activities associated with the pearl industry.

The atolls labelled with their names are those on which the growth rates were greater than 15%.

Results :
22 atolls in the whole Archipelago fulfilled the demographic criteria adopted. Only 4 of these 22 atolls had no pearl farms, although  at least two of them had very few inhabitants in 1988, which affected the growth rates: the island of Hereheretue had only 20 inhabitants at that time, and Tematangi, 36 inhabitants.

The opposite pattern of development occurred on the 25 atolls on which pearl farms had sprung up: 21 atolls have been shown in red, which means that their percentages were greater than the reference values of 15% and 30%. Note that in the case of Amanu, for example,  where the percentages amounted to+ 40% et + 29%, respectively, and these are around the threshold rates adopted at the outset.

In short, there obviously exists a correspondence between the most demographically dynamic atolls and those where pearl farming has been taken up. Pearl farming is responsible for the sustained dynamism visible since 1988 on these atolls, which account for approximately  50% of the whole area of the Tuamotu-Gambier archipelago. Generally speaking, the fifteen leading pearl-producing atolls (those with the largest number of oyster farms and pearl concessions) had 3 739 active inhabitants in employment in 1996, i.e., 57% of the total population, and 6 550 if we count Moruroa, which previously had only 995 active inhabitants in employment. It should naturally not be forgotten that some of the inhabitants of these fifteen islands work in the copra, tourist and fishing industries, but their proportions are relatively small, except in the case of Rangiroa and Hao, which have the highest employment figures.

In conclusion, 1 employee out of every 3 was found in this study to be involved in pearl production on the Archipelago. This is in line with the estimates of the "Institut Territorial de la Statistique", which published the following statement in their "Tables de l'Economie Polynésienne" for 1998, on page 260:

"Pearl farming has led directly to the creation of  2 000 jobs, which enable 1 household out of every  4 on the Tuamotu-Gambier archipelago to earn a living. The fact that these jobs are located far from the capital of the Territory has not only helped to prevent the local populations from leaving, but has also intensified the migratory fluxes within the archipelago".

The authors of other studies, such as those carried out by G. Blanchet at the IRD in the framework of the  "Programme Général de Recherche sur la Nacre"(PGRN) have shown that pearl production has been a decisive factor contributing to the re-population of the atolls :

"From 1971 to 1997, the population of the archipelago increased two-fold, since the number of inhabitants rose from 8.226 to 16.370. During the same period, the populations of the 6 main pearl-producing communes increased three-fold from 2.483 to 6.997 inhabitants. This highly localised expansion accounted for more than half of that occurring in the whole archipelago". The communes in question were the islands of Arutua, Fakarava, Makemo, Manihi, Takaroa and les Gambier.

The dynamics of pearl production had even more far-reaching consequences in some cases, where poles of attraction have developed on the Tuamotu Gambiers archipelago and scientific research centres have been created. Rangiroa, for example, houses the "Centre des Métiers de la Nacre et de la Perliculture"(The Occupational Centre for Mother-of -Pearl and Pearl Production), and Takapoto was chosen as the site of the scientific outpost of the "Service des Ressources Marines" (The Department of Marine Resources). Whether or not these moves were freely chosen in the first place, one of their advantages is the proximity of these establishments to the oyster farms and the fact that they favour direct contacts with the pearl producers: the pearl farmers, who used to be completely isolated and were reluctant to adopt any innovations, are now being rapidly informed about the latest findings and technical innovations.