France retains Europe’s top spot for foreign investment as industrial and tech projects lift totals
France remained the leading European destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2025, according to the EY European Attractiveness Survey 2026. The report, published by EY and summarised by Business France, records 852 foreign investment projects in France last year, ahead of the United Kingdom (730) and Germany (548).
Performance amid a challenging external environment
The result comes against a backdrop of slower global growth and heightened geopolitical uncertainty that has weighed on cross-border capital flows. Despite that, France’s FDI performance outpaced many continental peers on key metrics. Projects in France brought nearly 28,000 jobs, a fall of about 4% year-on-year, markedly smaller than the roughly 25% decline recorded across Europe.
Manufacturing remains a central pillar: France attracted 354 industrial investments in 2025, representing about 42% of its total project count and keeping the country top of Europe for manufacturing-related FDI. The net industrial jobs balance from these projects remained positive, although smaller than in previous years, underlining the continuing role of foreign investment in supporting productive employment.
Technology, AI and low-carbon energy driving higher-value projects
The survey highlights several sectors that underpinned France’s attractiveness. France led Europe in projects tied to artificial intelligence, with a reported 26% rise in AI-related investments in one year. Software and IT services, defence, decision-making centres and low-carbon energy also featured prominently among incoming projects, signalling a tilt toward higher value-added and strategically sensitive activities.
France also made inroads in attracting corporate headquarters, which grew by an estimated 17% year-on-year, placing the country second in Europe for that category. The combination of market size, infrastructure and available talent were cited as consistent strengths in the country’s appeal to international firms.
Regional spread and perception
The distribution of projects across France was broader than in some peers: four French regions placed among Europe’s top 15 most attractive regions, suggesting investment was not overly concentrated in the Paris metro area. Ile-de-France remained the leading region with 233 projects, while Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Grand Est and Hauts-de-France showed competitive levels of job creation and investor interest.
A linked perception survey found that 38% of international executives consider France the most attractive European country for investment, ahead of Germany and the United Kingdom, each cited by 31%. Respondents ranked France highly for market size, innovation capacity, infrastructure quality, the availability of low-carbon energy and workforce quality.
Investor concerns and near-term intent
Alongside praise, foreign investors flagged several structural concerns that could limit future flows unless addressed. The main areas highlighted were the clarity of public policy, political stability, cost competitiveness, the tax framework and administrative simplicity. In the short term, 57% of executives surveyed said they were considering investing in France in 2026, indicating sustained interest but also a degree of selectivity.
Policy implications and the competitiveness challenge
Business France and government officials framed the results as confirmation of France’s attractiveness while stressing the need for further action to cement that position. The data underscores a familiar policy trade-off: maintaining investor confidence requires not just favourable sector fundamentals and talent, but also predictable regulation, streamlined procedures and cost competitiveness in a Europe-facing market.
For policymakers, the findings point to priority areas where reforms or targeted support could convert expressed investor intent into concrete projects: faster decision-making processes, clearer rules for strategic sectors, incentives for low-carbon and AI investments, and measures to lower administrative friction for incoming firms.
Business France’s role and impact
Business France, the national agency promoting inbound investment and exports, is reported to have supported 59% of the 1,878 foreign investment decisions across France in 2025, accounting for some 35,400 projected jobs. The organisation also says its export assistance generated an additional €2.5 billion in export revenues for French SMEs and mid-sized firms in 2025, linked to more than 25,000 jobs created or planned.
What this means for investors and host economies
France’s standing as Europe’s top FDI destination in 2025 suggests its combination of market scale, sector strengths and regional spread remains attractive to international capital. Yet the report is also a reminder that leadership is not permanent. As capital becomes more selective, countries that offer both strategic sector access and operational predictability will be best positioned to capture the next wave of investment in areas such as AI, green infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
For corporate investors, France offers access to a sizable consumer market and an expanding ecosystem for technology and decarbonisation. For policymakers, the task is to preserve those advantages while tackling cost and regulatory frictions that investors continue to flag.
Methodology note: The findings summarised here are drawn from the EY European Attractiveness Survey 2026 and associated perception polling, and are reported by Business France in its briefing on the results.
