 Opposite to these, RCMs devoid of a strong urban centre, like La Matapédia, Témiscouata and Les Basques, have been the RCMs where the population has dropped the most in the region.Accounting for the population decrease observed since 1951, even when Quebec's population has increased by 82%, it is not surprising that the share of the population of Quebec living in Bas-Saint-Laurent has decreased from 5.2% in 1951 to 2.8% in 2001.The population of Bas-Saint-Laurent is significantly older than the population of Quebec as a whole.