Why are French demo turnout numbers always so different - and who is right?

"When protesters took to the streets of France to protest against pension reform, the Interior Ministry said there were 1.2 million people on the streets, including 80,000 at the demo in Paris. The CGT union, on the other hand, counted 2 million people in total and 400,000 on the streets of Paris."

"This kind of disagreement is the rule rather than exception in France. For decades, protest organisers and officials have been unable to agree on even a rough ballpark figure for the turnout of protests, strikes and rallies."

"Counting protesters is of course not an exact science. This problem was made especially clear during the 'yellow vest' protests in 2018/2019. The 'yellow vests' were a social movement unlike anything France had seen before. Contrary to the well-established labour unions with a long tradition of organising fastidiously planned street protests, the 'yellow vests' were unpredictable."

France experiences persistent disagreement between government authorities and protest organizers over crowd size estimates at demonstrations. During pension reform protests, the Interior Ministry reported 1.2 million total participants with 80,000 in Paris, while the CGT union claimed 2 million total and 400,000 in Paris. Similar discrepancies occur regularly, such as International Women's Day marches showing either 130,000 or 32,000 participants depending on the source. This pattern has become so routine that media reports typically cite both official and organizer figures. Counting protesters accurately presents significant challenges, particularly with unpredictable movements like the 2018-2019 yellow vest protests, which differed fundamentally from traditional organized labor union demonstrations.

Read at The Local France