Abstract :
- In 2024, 1,111,238 new businesses were created in France. This figure marks a new historic high, reflecting the continued strong entrepreneurial momentum in France.
- Sixty-four percent of these new registrations are micro-entrepreneurs—nearly a third of whom would not start any economic activity—while a significant proportion correspond to non-productive or precarious activities.
- Nevertheless, a genuine entrepreneurial spirit and culture are present and seem to be self-sustaining in France, with more French people expressing an intention to start a business, perceiving opportunities, and being exposed to entrepreneurship.
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A new historic high for business creation in France
In 2024, more than one million new businesses were created in France. With business creation exceeding one million for the fourth consecutive year, French entrepreneurial dynamism seems to be intensifying.
Business start-ups in France by legal status
Reading: 1,111,238 new businesses were created in France in 2024, 64% of which were micro-entrepreneurs (formerly known as « auto-entrepreneurs »).
Scope: Whole of France, legal productive and market units engaged in non-agricultural activities (raw data).
Source: INSEE (SIDE)
Indeed, 2024 marks a new historic high. With exactly 1,111,238 new registrations of legal entities, business creation has broken a new record, as has been the case every year since 2016, except in 2023 (for more information on the change in trend since 2016, see the Appendix at the end of the article). This figure also implies one new business for every five existing businesses. In 2022 (the last year for which data is available), France had a stock of 5.5 million economically active businesses, to which one million new businesses have been added every year since 2021.
However, this does not automatically lead to an increase in the number of businesses by one million each year: some of the businesses created will not be sustainable, and others will not start any economic activity after their registration. This is the case for one-third of micro-entrepreneurs[2], who will not start any economic activity after their creation. This is why the number of economically active businesses in France will increase by « only » 1.6 million between 2014 and 2022, while 7 million businesses will be created over the same period.
The business renewal rate—new businesses relative to the total number—can therefore be an indicator of entrepreneurial dynamism, but also of a high level of competition or a low survival rate (many entrants and many exits). It can also be skewed by periods of enthusiasm, such as in 2021 in the newspaper publishing industry, where business creation increased ninefold in one year. This is why the analysis of growth rates should complement this indicator, as it also reflects a dynamic environment.
Business climate and trends in business creation in France
Scope: Whole of France, legal productive and commercial units engaged in non-agricultural activities (raw data).
Source: INSEE (SIDE, economic surveys)
After two years of virtually no change, business creation increased by 6% compared to 2023, which is its average annual growth rate over the last ten years.
When it comes to business creation, these are inflows, even in periods of decline: in 2023, despite a 1% decline compared to 2022, 1 million new production units[3] were nevertheless introduced in France. In 2024, despite a deteriorating business climate, the trend was upward.
At the sectoral level, three sectors stood out as the driving forces behind business creation in 2024, but also over the last ten years. Industry, transportation and warehousing, and business support activities not only grew by more than 10% this year, but have also posted high average annual growth rates since 2012. However, of the 67,000 businesses created in industry in 2024, one-third were in electricity production (APE[5]code: 3511Z), i.e., individuals who sell the surplus from their photovoltaic installations to energy suppliers. Similarly, two-thirds of the companies created in the transport sector were involved in postal and courier activities (5320Z), i.e., home delivery services, most of which operate via a digital platform. Scientific and technical activities, a sector that was once buoyant (with an average of 7% growth in new businesses per year since 2012), are experiencing a decline in consulting activities (7022Z) this year, while entrepreneurial activity in real estate (-5%) and construction (+1%) appears to be affected by a stagnant real estate market.
Entrepreneurial spirit remains as strong as ever and is self-sustaining
Despite the heterogeneity of sectoral developments, which also reflect major societal trends (uberization, renewable energies, digitalization, digital nomadism, etc.), business creation has been on the rise in every sector over the last ten years, and the French are showing ever-increasing entrepreneurial involvement.
According to the French Entrepreneurial Index (IEF), 32% of French people will be involved in entrepreneurship in 2023, either as current or former business owners, as leaders of entrepreneurial projects, or as those intending to do so. In the same year, half of French people aged 18-64 perceived favorable opportunities for starting a business, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
Although in 2024, this share of perceived opportunities fell sharply to 43%, it has been growing over the last 25 years, as has the share of French people with entrepreneurial intentions (14% in 2024 compared to 3% in 2002) or who own a business (4% in 2024 compared to 1% in 2002). In fact, the proportion of entrepreneurial intentions in France is slightly higher than in the United States (13% in 2024) or Germany (11%), despite a lower proportion of business owners (7% in the United States and 6% in Germany in 2024).
Does this gap between intentions and implementation reflect unrealized entrepreneurial intentions and therefore a pool of dormant potential entrepreneurs in France?
It is true that today, French people seem to favor salaried employment. According to the IEF, four out of ten French people believe that salaried employment is the ideal career choice, compared to a quarter who prefer an entrepreneurial career. However, this figure rises to 43% among those who are heavily exposed to entrepreneurship through their social circle, training, or their own entrepreneurial experiences.
Furthermore, when two-thirds of French people outside of any entrepreneurial dynamic are asked about their barriers to starting or taking over a business, it turns out that three in ten—or 20% of French people[7] —have never considered becoming an entrepreneur. Once again, this proportion is higher among those who have little exposure to entrepreneurship (34% vs. 9% among those who have significant exposure). Thus, entrepreneurship appears to be its own catalyst and facilitator, with entrepreneurs creating more potential entrepreneurs around them, but also increasing their own chances of starting again. Indeed, according to the IEF, 9 out of 10 project leaders in 2023 will already have a business creation/takeover project under their belt.
The French and business creation/takeover projects
Reading: in 2023, 68% of French people are outside any entrepreneurial dynamic (no project or intention). Among them, 30% have never thought about starting or taking over a business, representing 20% of French people overall.
Scope: people aged 18 and over, residing in mainland France.
Source: Business Creation Observatory, French Entrepreneurship Index 2023.
While personal experience or that of peers seems to be a decisive facilitator, the real difficulties expressed in this regard should not be overlooked. Indeed, 8 out of 10 French people believe that being an entrepreneur has a negative impact on family life and health. Furthermore, more than 4 out of 10 French people outside of any entrepreneurial dynamic, or 30% of the French population, express concrete obstacles to starting or taking over a business, such as the weight of responsibility, the risk of failure, or insufficient income.
The question then becomes not only how to increase French people’s exposure to entrepreneurship (through awareness-raising, training, and facilitating exchanges with entrepreneurs), but also to address the real obstacles perceived upstream and experienced downstream by business leaders, while ensuring that entrepreneurship is not imposed—precariousness, hidden salaried employment, etc.—but chosen.
Appendix:
The combination of a favorable macroeconomic context with the growth of certain sectors and consumer practices has led to an acceleration in business creation since 2016.
Indeed, after the fiscal shock between 2011 and 2013 linked to the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, legal and regulatory changes from 2014 onwards (the Responsibility Pact, the tax credit for competitiveness and employment, the Macron Law, the PACTE Law, successive reductions in corporate income tax, the law on simplifying business life, etc.) had a tangible impact on reversing the unemployment curve and restoring growth and investment, creating a positive business climate until the health crisis in 2020.
At the same time, this period also saw hyper-growth in certain sectors, coinciding with the rise of digital platforms. Home sales, personal services, passenger transport by taxi, and postal and courier services experienced an explosion with the arrival of online sales platforms, Uber, and then home meal delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, etc.). In 2020, five activities (4932Z – Taxi transportation, 5320Z – Other postal and courier services, 9609Z – Other personal services, 4791A – Distance selling via general catalogs and 4791B – Distance selling via specialized catalogs) accounted for one in six new businesses created in France.
As a result, this period also propelled—and was driven by—the growth of the micro-entrepreneurial regime, whose share rose from 47% of businesses created in 2016 to 61% in 2020.
It should also be noted that this period also saw growth in business start-ups in fast food, real estate agencies, computer programming, and consulting, reflecting a paradigm shift in the French people’s relationship with entrepreneurship.
Sources:
- BPIFRANCE BUSINESS CREATION OBSERVATORY (2024) – Business creation in France in 2024
- BPIFRANCE BUSINESS CREATION OBSERVATORY (2023) – French Entrepreneurship Index 2023
- BPIFRANCE BUSINESS CREATION OBSERVATORY (2021) – French Entrepreneurship Index 2021
- INSEE (2025) – Between 2014 and 2022, a 42% increase in the number of economically active businesses
- INSEE (2023) – Nearly half of micro-entrepreneurs who started their business in 2018 are still active three years later
- INSEE (2023) – Micro-entrepreneurs registered in 2018: in the transport sector, two out of three work via a digital platform
[1] Between 2014 and 2022, a 42% increase in the number of economically active businesses – INSEE Première – 2045
[2] Nearly half of micro-entrepreneurs who started their business in 2018 are still active three years later − Micro-entrepreneurs registered in 2018: initial situation and situation in 2021, three years after creation | INSEE
[3] European definition of a business creation: creation of new means of production; restarting a business after an interruption of more than one year; restarting a business after an interruption of less than one year, but with a change of activity; takeover, by a new company, of the activities of another company if there is no continuity between the situation of the transferor and that of the transferee in terms of activity and location.
[4] In addition, it affected all regions except Mayotte and Martinique, which were in the red this year, presumably due to major climatic events and social tensions.
[5] The APE code, or Main Activity Code, identifies the main branch of activity of a business or company.
[6] Micro-entrepreneurs registered in 2018: in transport, two out of three work via a digital platform − Micro-entrepreneurs registered in 2018: initial situation and situation in 2021, three years after creation | INSEE
[7] Two-thirds of French people are not involved in any entrepreneurial activity, and among them, three in ten cite at least one obstacle to starting or taking over a business, i.e., two in ten French people (three in ten of the two-thirds).
