The essential guide: everything about business in France in 2018

The mission of Business France is to provide key information about France and its attractiveness to foreign investors, and thus overcome the clichés and misconceptions about France as a business destination.

On this page, you will find everything you need to know about the business environment in France, from the big picture down to the last detail on how to set up your business in France. This guide compiles the latest facts and figures on international rankings, and advice for investors and entrepreneurs.

• Rankings & benchmarks
• Annual reports & handbooks
• Digital portals for foreign entrepreneurs arriving in France

Rankings & benchmarks

White paper on international rankings

The 2018 edition of this White Paper sets out where France stands in international rankings, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the French economy. It seeks to offer more than a mere summary of global rankings by examining the various methodologies used and putting France’s performances into context.

The White Paper is designed as a resource to be used by both public- and private-sector business development stakeholders working in the French economy. It highlights France’s comparative advantages with the other countries, including its Nordic counterparts, and reveals areas for improvement in which further efforts are required.

France attractiveness scoreboard

The France Attractiveness Scoreboard highlights France’s innovation capacity, thriving enterprise culture and industrial prowess. The scoreboard’s vast array of facts, figures and comparative analysis substantiate France’s structural advantages that continue to play such a fundamental role in its attractiveness to business, while also underlining the positive effect of reforms undertaken to boost the competitiveness of the French economy.

This scoreboard is published on a yearly basis by Business France in conjunction with the French Treasury Directorate (DG Trésor) at the Ministry for the Economy and Finance, and the French Commission for Regional Equality (CGET).

Entrepreneurship scoreboard 

The Entrepreneurship Scoreboard aims to demonstrate France’s entrepreneurial momentum by offering comparative analysis of performance indicators in five key areas (including growth, finance, and innovation), and to highlight entrepreneurs and their spirit of enterprise through international success stories from foreign investors, including from the Nordic countries.

France’s ecosystem and startups in international rankings

This ‘Tech Book’ seeks to examine France’s place in a competitive environment and to provide an overview of the French entrepreneurial ecosystem (French Tech), including both its strengths and weaknesses, in a bid to distinguish between apprehension, perception, and reality.

Business France can thus identify the action that needs to be taken to make French SMEs more competitive as it supports them in their international development, and position France as an attractive destination for innovative talent.

Annual reports & handbook

Annual report on foreign investments in France

This annual report aims to analyze trends in job-creating foreign investment in France, providing key information on inward investment and talking points about the country’s attractiveness to business. The Nordic investments are specifically detailed in the report, country by country.

Doing Business in France

Written by Business France experts in association with specialists from leading law firms, auditors, accountants and human resources consultants, the Doing Business booklets provide key information and detailed advice in line with the needs of investors and entrepreneurs wishing to establish their business in France. There are 3 booklets, each of them dealing with a specific topic:

Digital portals for foreign entrepreneurs

Start your business in France – The ultimate how-to guide

My Company in France is a website provided by the URSSAF, the French social security contributions collector, and the government’s public startup incubator, beta.gouv.fr. This online service provides foreign companies with ultimate how-to guide, from incorporation to hiring. Visit the website to register your company, simulate hiring costs and benefits, and discover the hiring process.

Welcome to France – Helping you to settle in

Welcome to France is the online service to help you and your family settle-in with a team of international specialists guiding you through the various steps of moving to France, from social protection to conditions governing your stay and ability to work.