While, despite a slight decline in 2023, the level of business creation remains high in France, with 1,051,500 new companies last year, INSEE emphasizes that the French were not the only ones to demonstrate of an entrepreneurial spirit in the country.
In fact, 16% of individual businesses that saw the light of day in 2023 were created by foreigners.
An increase of 3 points compared to 2018.
Microentrepreneur status is popular
Rather young - with an average age of 36 years - these foreign business creators are the vast majority (70%) men, indicates the National Institute of Statistics.
In terms of sectors, on the podium of sectors in which foreigners have launched themselves in France, first place is occupied by transport and warehousing, at 44%.
In this sector, the majority of companies fall into the “other postal and courier activities” category, corresponding to home delivery.
Passenger transport by taxi and the construction sector come in second and third place among companies created by foreigners, at 30% and 27% respectively.
Furthermore, it is the microentrepreneur regime - for which the formalities are lighter and simpler - which was more widely favored by foreigners (they represent 17%) than that of traditional individual businesses (9%).
The microenterprise is also the only regime which records an increase in creations in 2023, with 667,400 new microenterprises, or 3% more than in 2022. In comparison, company creations fell by 8% compared to 2022 and traditional individual businesses, by 6%.