Attractiveness: France confirms its leadership in Europe

According to the latest results of the EY survey, France is the most attractive country in Europe for the third successive year, with 1,222 investment projects identified in 2021, an increase of 24% compared with 2020.

By comparison, projects grew by only two per cent in the United Kingdom and fell by 10% in Germany, France’s main competitors in Europe. As such, France has a much greater capacity for recovery than in the rest of Europe, with a record level of investment projects, while the number of projects in the EU is below its 2019 level, and confirms that it is a safe haven for foreign investors.

These excellent results reflect the momentum observed by the figures published in Business France’s “Annual Report: Foreign investment in France” last March, which showed that in 2021, France had hosted 1,607 investment projects (+32% compared with 2020) that had enabled 45,008 jobs to be created or maintained (+30% compared with 2020).

“France’s attractiveness has been blessed for the third year in a row by the international leaders interviewed by EY. Business France has played its full part in this effort to attract investment and I applaud the involvement of our teams and their close collaboration with our partners in France’s regions within Team France Invest, which have made it possible to support more than 6,900 projects in France and its overseas territories since 2017, thereby creating more than 185,000 jobs. In all, for 2021, Business France will have been at the origin of 59% of international investment projects,” says Christophe Lecourtier, CEO of Business France.

France’s attractiveness is therefore constantly improving. One in five investment projects in Europe now takes place in France. The average number of jobs created per project (38) is also up by 12% compared with 2020. With 69% of site expansions (compared to 23% in the United Kingdom and 19% in Germany), France stands out for the satisfaction of foreign investors established in France; a business that establishes itself here, expands here and sustains its activity here. As such, it creates employment and economic benefits for the region in which it operates.

“The EY Attractiveness Survey 2022 recognizes the impact of the reforms introduced during the government’s five-year term (2017-2022) and the recovery plan, which have made it possible to strengthen and communicate better about France’s structural key strengths. Being the most attractive country for the third year in a row, and by increasing the gap with Germany and the United Kingdom, is already a success in itself. But knowing that 56% of investors would like to set up or expand their operations and repatriate their industrial activities to France obliges us to continue the reforms and be even more attentive to them. France will rely on the “France 2030” investment plan, on the relocation of value-added chains and on a Europe that has become less naive to anchor this leadership in the decade to come,” says Pascal Cagni, Chairman of Business France.

France remains in first place in the European rankings for manufacturing projects, with 482 projects, ahead of the United Kingdom (145 projects) and Germany (106 projects). This is all the more important as supply chains are being rebuilt and France has an important role to play in this reorganization. The “France 2030” investment plan, which addresses the sectors of the future, constitutes a fundamental factor of attractiveness in which foreign investors have their place and have understood it well, since 56% of them plan to relocate their activities to France over the next three years.

Foreign investments trickle down to all areas of France and not just to the major cities. As the data produced in the latest report on foreign direct investment by Business France last March clearly showed, nearly one in two industrial projects is located in an area of fewer than 50,000 inhabitants (45% of projects and 72% of industrial projects in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants).