In a context of decline in international investments, France has preserved its positions in 2023. According to the traditional barometer of attractiveness established every year for twenty years by the firm EY, and published Thursday May 2, France remained in the lead in the European rankings for the fifth year in a row, ahead of the United Kingdom and Germany.
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Of the 5,694 international investment projects announced in 2023 – a figure down 4% compared to 2022, and far behind the record of 2017, when 6,663 projects were identified – France welcomed 1,194, or one in five. The United Kingdom attracted 985 (+ 6%). Germany, due to the crisis affecting its economic and energy model, lost points, with 733 projects (- 12%).
The executive takes great satisfaction from this assessment, a few days before the seventh edition of the Choose France summit, which will be held on Monday May 13 and is supposed to promote the French destination to investors from around the world. According to the Elysée, “ This extremely important news validates all the efforts and all the reforms that have been carried out since 2017.” In this case, the reform of the Labor Code, the reduction in corporate and capital tax, the reduction in production taxes, the Pacte law (Action plan for the growth and transformation of businesses) or the implementation of the France Relance and France 2030 plans…
“Reindustrialization is underway”
“All this is being done in a tense international context », recalls Laurent Saint-Martin, general director of Business France, the State agency responsible for supporting investment and export projects. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, foreign direct investment projects in Europe fell by 20% in 2023. For comparison, they increased by 2% in the United States, by 8 % in China and 17% in Asia as a whole.
Another reason for rejoicing for the executive, the weight taken by the establishment or extension of production sites in the total projects. “Reindustrialization is underway”, we congratulate ourselves at the Elysée. In 2023, 44% of investments made in France were of an industrial nature. The increase, if real, is however not spectacular. In 2022, in fact, this share was 43%.
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In addition, the number of positions created or maintained per project remains lower than among our neighbors: each investment generates on average 35 jobs in France, compared to 49 in Germany, 61 in the United Kingdom… and 299 in Spain. In total, nearly 40,000 jobs were created in 2023 linked to foreign investment in France, compared to more than 52,000 for example in the United Kingdom or more than 42,000 in Spain. “ To increase employment, France must notably improve its cost competitiveness », underlines EY in its survey.
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