France is the leading country in Europe for business creation. In 2018, the number of business creations in France reached a record high (691,000), driven by a 28% increase in micro-entrepreneurship and a 20% increase in traditional sole proprietorships.
In France, it takes only 3.5 days to start a business, compared to 4.5 in the UK and 10.5 in Germany. The French have one of the strongest “entrepreneurial intentions” in Europe. In 2018, 50% of 18-24 year olds said they wanted to start a business. With its Station F startup campus, which aims to become the world’s largest business incubator (capable of hosting 1,000 startups), France is making a name for itself as a “startup nation”. France invests heavily in its education system (5% of GDP). It has a highly skilled workforce that is adaptable and able to master new technologies to boost productivity. 44.7% of the population aged 25-34 and 33.5% of the population aged 25-64 have a tertiary education. France also ranks 7th in the world in hourly labor productivity, ahead of Germany (8th) and the United Kingdom (18th) (source: Conference Board, 2017).
86% of foreign business executives surveyed consider the level of education and skills of the French workforce attractive.
With domestic R&D spending at 2.2% of GDP, France ranks sixth in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany and Korea, according to the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2018. The top five areas of R&D investment are automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, scientific and technical activities, and computer technology and information services. France specializes in promising areas such as biotechnology and environmental technologies.
In 2018, seven French organizations were included in the ranking of the 100 most innovative companies in the world (CEA, Alstom, Airbus, Safran, Saint-Gobain, Thales and Total).
In 2018, France hosted 144 R&D centers (85% more than in 2017), making it the most attractive country in Europe for investment in innovation and increasingly asserting its central role in the European R&D and innovation economy, according to the 2019 edition of the EY France Attractiveness Barometer. It attracts more projects than Germany and the United Kingdom combined.
The high scientific level of France is demonstrated by the fact that many large companies host R&D centers in the country. For example, a number of large foreign digital technology companies have chosen Paris as the location for their research in the field of artificial intelligence. These companies include, in particular, Facebook (since 2015), Google, Fujitsu, Samsung, and Microsoft, which is developing, together with Simplon, a large-scale training plan in France to raise awareness of more than 400,000 people of various profiles about the challenges of artificial intelligence.
In 2017, the government set itself the goal of making France a “start-up nation” and on January 15, 2018, it established a €10 billion fund to finance innovation, which will be replenished through the sale of state assets.
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