Why France

France is attractive in many ways: large domestic market, fast and reliable transport network, fast company registration process, qualified and productive labor force, favorable environment for R&D activities...

A large domestic market

France is an attractive business location for foreign investors in many ways. With 66 million inhabitants, and a Gross Domestic Product of 41,005.30 USD per capital (2015), France domestic market is an important factor to take into account for a site selection process in Europe.

business transport infrastructures in france

A strategic position in Europe with efficient transport infrastructures

France’s strategic position and efficient transport network make it a hub for Europe and North Africa.
Access to the European Union markets (27 countries) 2014 

Setting up in an attractive country France

Source : TThe attractivness dashboard - Business France - 2015

It has among the best road networks and airports in Europe, by total passengers and volume of goods transported.

Transport infrastructures: airports
Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport is the first European airport for freight transport. Other French cities serve as hubs to connect you with Europe and the rest of the world.


Transport infrastructures: Roads
France has the first road network in Europe, with more than one million kilometers of roads.
France ranks second in Europe in transport performance, with 100,969 million ton kilometers per year.

Locate a production unit in France

France, a country of entrepreneurs

It is easy and fast to register a company in France. New entrepreneurs are numerous because they benefit from a favorable business environment.

Time required to start a business in France (in days):
According to the World bank (online data 2016), it takes less time to register a company in France than in the UK or in Germany.
 

High number of new entrepreneurs every year
In 2014, about 230,187 new companies were registered in France, i.e a 7.2% rise compared to the previous year.

A qualified and highly productive labor force, with lower growth in labor costs than in other E.U countries

It is easy to recruit qualified people in France given the level of educational background of a large number of French people. The French are among the most productive in the world. The last governmental measures to increase competitiveness within the companies have proved their efficiency with a labor cost growth lower than in the neighboring countries.
45% of the people aged 25 to 34 years old graduated from college.

GDP per hour worked in 2015 (USD, constant prices, 2010 PPPs)

Luxembourg

81,5

Norway

78,6

Ireland

77,9

Belgium

64,4

Denmark

63,4

United States

62,9

Netherlands

61,5

France

60,8

Germany

59,0

Data extracted on 06 Jan 2017 10:03 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat

France ranks 8th worldwide in terms of labor force productivity (GDP per hour worked).
French people work more hours per week than the EU average. The French work 37.2 hours a week in average, compared to 35.2 hours in Germany and 36.7 in the UK.

R&D staff in France

France is a favorable environment for welcoming R&D activities.
R&D staff in France is well represented. With 14.5 researchers out of 1,000 active people, France is among the leading countries (statistics from OCDE)

Among the top 5 countries for welcoming R&D centers’ projects in the world (2015)

World Ranking

 Country

Number of Projects

1

UK

100

2

India

89

3

USA

69

4

Germany

55

5

France

45

Source : Global Investment Monitor, EY, 2016. 

With 45 R&D centers planned in 2015, France has benefited from the creation of 1,200 highly qualified jobs, a rise of 76% compared to 2014.
France ranks 8th out of 28 in Europe regarding R&D expenditures in 2014.

By using our investor support service, you will confidentially and within 48 hours, receive comprehensive information on each item needed to set up your project in France.