Foreign companies established in France, an emerging part of the French attractiveness

The choice of a legal form of foreign company registered with the INSEE allows a foreign company to meet the need for limited representation or establishment in France. This representation or establishment may take the form of a liaison office, without its own legal or fiscal personality, for non-commercial activities such as prospecting and advertising on the French market.

The head of the liaison office is generally an employee of the foreign company. This structure is not subject to the authorization procedure for foreign investments, nor to the obligation to register with the Trade and Companies Register (RCS), nor to French taxation. It corresponds to the legal forms "3220, Foreign company not registered with the RCS" and "3290 Legal person under foreign law".

Sectors of activity largely favored

Five major sectors account for 78.6% of registered entities, including nearly 50% for the Distribution activity alone, mainly driven by non-food distribution. In second place, the Building and Public Works sector accounts for 15% of the entities, in particular with its activities of promotion, real estate management (8.5%) and construction (5.6%).

In terms of workforce, the top 10 sectors of activity account for 80.6% of employees. Business services and financial services (such as banking and insurance) employ nearly a third of the employees in foreign companies.

"Since 2012, the number of registrations of new entities has continued to grow. This can be correlated with the long-term measures to support French attractiveness and the "Choose France" put forward by the current government."

- Max Jammot, Head of the Economic Division at Ellisphere

Skills and resilience for these legal forms

Since 2012, the number of registrations of new entities has continued to grow. This can be correlated with long-term measures to support French attractiveness (administrative simplifications for employees, revision of the map of regions, stabilization of the tax framework) and the "Choose France" put forward by the current government.

Since 2019, there has been an explosion of new registrations. At the beginning of this period, this development could be seen in the context of an economic upturn, with more foreign companies feeling out the area to set up and invest. In 2022, however, this exponential growth seems to have come to a halt...

Registered entities enjoy good resilience. Insolvencies are rare (receivership, liquidation and European insolvency proceedings) and the survival rate remains high; 84.5% of entities created since 2012 are still active in the fall of 2022.