France, 1st among the most attractive European countries for investment 

Showing exceptional results in 2019, France is at the end of the year the most attractive country for foreign industrial investments in Europe.

Indeed, France has been the target of 1,468 investment decisions thus creating or maintaining about 40,000 jobs. These investments represented an increase of +11% and have contributed to a 30% increase in jobs generated in 2019.    

A large domestic market, good quality of infrastructures and business environment, wide human talent pool, and strong R&D are cited by most foreign CEOs in France to define its main attractivity factors. External environment factors such as the Brexit have also played a role in the repatriation of investments from London to the Hexagon.  

This enthusiasm for France is reflected in 3 types of investments: creation (768 projects for 16,000 jobs), expansion (610 projects for 18,755 jobs) and takeover (90 projects for 4,778 jobs). They are mainly developed through 3 business activities: manufacturing (380 projects), decision-making centers (362 projects) and retail outlets (200 projects).   

Over 5 years, the number of source countries has jumped from 47 to 58 and are mostly located in Europe (64% of total investments) with Germany, UK and Italy as 3 main contributors representing respectively 15.5%, 12% and 8%. Overall, the USA remain the main contributor for the increase of foreign investments with 16.2%. In comparison, 20% of total investment come from North America and 11% from Asia.  

Overall, France has brought 13,814 jobs in the industrial sector for the greatest benefit of cities of less than 20,000 inhabitants, which attract 71% of industrial investment projects thus showing signs of an increasing competitivity and promising results for France and its partners.