France

France

Western Europe

EuropeEUSchengen
72
Overall score
Strong overall
Language
French
Currency
EUR
Citizenship
5 years (2 with French degree)
Personal tax
0–45% + social charges
Cost of living
€2,000 / mo (single)

A top EU passport with excellent healthcare, near-free public universities and the well-run French Tech Visa, balanced by high taxes, social charges and a French-language requirement.

Pros

  • French Tech Visa for founders/talent
  • Near-free public universities
  • Top healthcare & lifestyle

Cons

  • High taxes + social charges
  • French required for citizenship
  • Bureaucracy (préfecture queues)

Best for

Founders (French Tech)StudentsSkilled professionals

Score profile

Status & mobility
Passport
96
Citizenship
68
Residence
57
Money & business
Taxes
38
Corporate tax
29
Business
46
Investment
64
Economy
78
Wealth building
58
Living, study & work
Education
83
Salary & work
65
Cost of living
50
Buying power
78
Quality of life
Safety
74
Healthcare
91
Infrastructure
83
HDI
92

Status & mobility

Passport

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any travel or visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Passport power
Excellent
96

Passport-index style mobility for the France passport. The score above is its world reach: the share of 198 destinations reachable without a prior visa.

191 / 198
Mobility
#4
Global rank
Yes
Biometric
  • Visa-free144
  • On arrival38
  • eTA9
  • Visa required7

Passport Index style mobility data (2024–2025 estimate). Placeholder figures; verify current entry rules with each destination’s authority before travelling.

Citizenship

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any citizenship decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Citizenship accessibility
Good
68
Years required5 years (2 with a French higher-education degree)
Dual allowedtrue
LanguageB1 French (rising to B2) + civic knowledge
Residence5 years legal residence with stable income & integration
NotesThe Talent Passport and French Tech Visa streamline residence for founders, employees and investors.
Residence

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any residence / visa decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Openness to residents
Moderate
57
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines how international the population already is (migrant stock at 45%), governance quality (regulatory quality at 25%), and the curated residence-pathway signal (30%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Migrant stock13.8% of population (2024)
Regulatory quality1.15 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main pathways
Talent Passport (French Tech)Salarié work visaEntrepreneur/Profession LibéraleStudent
StudentStudent residence; up to 964 hrs/year work (~60%).
WorkTalent Passport for qualified hires & founders; salaried work permits.
Self-employedEntrepreneur/Profession Libérale visa; micro-entrepreneur regime for freelancers.
PermanentCarte de résident (10-yr) after ~5 years.

Money & business

Taxes

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Tax friendliness
Limited
38
Personal0–45% progressive + ~9.7–17.2% social charges
Corporate25%
Capital gains30% flat (prélèvement forfaitaire unique)
Dividends30% flat (PFU)
Exit taxYes: on large unrealised gains when leaving France
Foreign cosCFC rules (Art. 209 B) apply
Personal tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Personal tax
Low
18
Personal0–45% progressive + ~9.7–17.2% social charges
FreelanceMicro-entrepreneur (auto-entrepreneur) regime is simple & popular
Capital gains30% flat (prélèvement forfaitaire unique)
Dividends30% flat (PFU)
Exit taxYes: on large unrealised gains when leaving France
Corporate tax

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Corporate tax
Low
29
Corporate25%
Capital gains30% flat (prélèvement forfaitaire unique)
Dividends30% flat (PFU)
Foreign cosCFC rules (Art. 209 B) apply
Business
Business friendliness
Moderate
46
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score leans on the two things founders ask about most: the tax burden (headline corporate rate at 20%, broader tax friendliness at 15%, and freedom from exit-tax / CFC rules at 10%) plus the regulatory and bureaucratic environment (regulatory quality 15%, government effectiveness 15%), on top of the curated company-rules signal (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the values are shown below.

Regulation & bureaucracy
Regulatory quality1.15 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Government effectiveness1.20 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rules & taxes
Foreign co.Yes: full foreign ownership
Local co.SAS/SARL; online formation; €1 min capital
FreelanceMicro-entrepreneur (auto-entrepreneur) regime is simple & popular
Corporate tax25%
Capital gains30% flat (prélèvement forfaitaire unique)
Exit taxYes: on large unrealised gains when leaving France
Foreign cosCFC rules (Art. 209 B) apply
Investment

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any investment / tax decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Investing environment
Moderate
64
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score is mostly the investor-tax signal (capital-gains treatment, broker access, wealth tax, and ETF or other taxes on investment, 70%), lightly contextualised by equity-market depth (market cap / GDP at 18%) and credit depth (domestic credit to the private sector / GDP at 12%). Available indicators are reweighted.

Market cap85% of GDP (2018)
Private credit108% of GDP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capital gains30% flat PFU; PEA & assurance-vie offer tax advantages
DividendsData not available yet
ETFs & fundsData not available yet
Wealth taxReal-estate wealth tax (IFI) on property fortunes above €1.3m
BrokersGood: Boursorama, Trade Republic, Interactive Brokers
Foreign accessData not available yet
Tax-advantagedData not available yet
Economy
Economic strength
Good
78
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines income level (GDP and GNI per capita, output per worker), growth momentum (real GDP growth), price stability (inflation) and labour utilisation (unemployment). Available indicators are reweighted; the sector split and industry profile below are descriptive, not scored.

Output & income
GDP$3.2T (2024)
GDP / person$46,103 (2024)
GNI / person$63,880 PPP (2024)
GDP growth1.2% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Stability & labour
Inflation2.0% / yr (2024)
Unemployment7.5% (2025)
Output per worker$127,332 PPP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Sector composition
Agriculture1.3% of GDP (2024)
Industry17.2% of GDP (2024)
Services70.9% of GDP (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Main industries
AerospaceLuxury goodsTourismAgriculture & wineAutomotiveNuclear energy
Top exports
AircraftLuxury goodsPharmaceuticalsWine & spiritsMachinery
TypeHigh-income, diversified services- and industry-led
Key sectorsAerospace (Airbus), Luxury & fashion, Tourism (world's most-visited)
SummaryA diversified high-income economy strong in aerospace, luxury, agri-food and the world's largest tourism sector.
CurrencyEuro (eurozone member)
Wealth building

Rules change often and depend on your situation. Confirm any tax / investment decision with a qualified professional, or do your own research, before acting.

Wealth accumulation
Moderate
58
How this score is calculated

How favourable France is for building wealth: earnings and business/investment upside, tax drag, and how much a typical income keeps after living costs. Estimated from the factors below.

Salary & work
Good
78
Business
Moderate
51
Investment
Moderate
64
Tax friendliness
Limited
38
Cost of living
Moderate
50

Living, study & work

Education
Education score
Excellent
83
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines attainment (expected schooling at 30% and mean schooling at 25%) with participation (tertiary enrolment at 25%) and public investment (government education spending at 20%). Available indicators are reweighted; tuition and study rules remain separate profile fields below.

Attainment
Expected schooling16.1 years (2023)
Mean schooling11.8 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Participation & investment
Tertiary enrolment72% gross (2024)
Education spending5.3% of GDP (2022)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Tuition€170–3,770 / yr (public); higher for some non-EU
Public uniHeavily subsidised public universities & grandes écoles
LanguagesFrench, English (many Master's)
Student workUp to 964 hrs/year (~60% full-time)
Salary & work
Labour-market strength
Good
65
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines output per worker (a proxy for wage potential at 40%), unemployment (35%) and labour-force participation (25%). Available indicators are reweighted; the curated profile fields remain below.

Output per worker$127,332 PPP (2024)
Unemployment7.5% (2025)
Participation55.3% of 15+ (2025)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Mean monthly earnings of employees
Overall$2,097 · $2,702 PPP (2024)
Tech (IT & comms)$3,031 · $3,906 PPP (2024)

Source: ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization)

FreelanceSolid contracting; Station F & Paris startup ecosystem
Job marketParis is a major EU tech hub; some English-only startup roles.
Cost of living
Affordability
Moderate
50

Our 0–100 affordability score is derived from the local consumer price level (World Bank, US = 100): the cheaper everyday prices are, the higher it scores. Lower price level means your money goes further here.

Price level78 (US = 100) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Rent€1,000–1,800 (1BR Paris)
Monthly€2,000
CitiesParis, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse
Buying power
Purchasing power score
Good
78
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score estimates how far money goes for the typical person here. It combines GNI per capita at PPP (30%) and actual household consumption per person at PPP (15%) with a price-advantage term from the local price level (25%) that rewards lower prices, then adjusts for income equality via the Gini index (20%), so unequal economies don't ride a high average, plus price stability via consumer inflation (10%). Available indicators are reweighted; it is a comparison, not a personal budget estimate.

GNI / person$63,880 PPP (2024)
Consumption / person$30,535 PPP (2023)
Price level78 (US = 100) (2024)
Income inequality31.8 Gini (2023)
Inflation2.0% / yr (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Quality of life

Safety
Safety & stability
Good
74
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines personal safety (intentional homicide rate at 35%), institutional quality (rule of law at 25% and control of corruption at 20%), and political stability and absence of violence (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below. Always check current government travel and security advice before relocating.

Personal safety
Homicide rate1.3 per 100,000 (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Institutions & stability
Rule of law0.98 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Control of corruption1.22 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)
Political stability-0.24 (−2.5 to 2.5) (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Healthcare
Healthcare score
Excellent
91
How this score is calculated

Our 0–100 score combines health outcomes (life expectancy at 25% and under-5 mortality at 20%) with system capacity (physicians at 20% and hospital beds at 15% per 1,000 people) and health spending per capita (20%). Available indicators are reweighted; the published values are shown below.

Outcomes
Life expectancy83.0 years (2024)
Under-5 mortality4.3 per 1,000 births (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Capacity & resourcing
Physicians3.28 per 1,000 (2022)
Hospital beds5.65 per 1,000 (2022)
Health spending$6,868 PPP / person (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

System & costs
SystemUniversal public (Assurance Maladie) + mutuelle top-up
InsuranceResidents covered via PUMA; mutuelle common
Avg costMutuelle top-up ~€30–80 / mo
Infrastructure
Infrastructure score
Excellent
83
How this score is calculated

The score combines digital access, resilience and download performance (30%), electricity access and network losses (30%), and transport infrastructure covering rail, logistics and aviation (40%). Available inputs are reweighted, but a country needs both digital and transport data to receive a score.

Digital infrastructure
Internet use88.7% (2024)
Internet resilience74 / 100 (2026)
Fixed speed97 / 100 download index (2026)
Mobile speed77 / 100 download index (2026)

Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators · Internet Society Pulse Internet Resilience Index

Utilities
Electricity access100.0% (2023)
Grid losses6.6% of output (2024)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

Transport
Transport quality3.80 / 5 (2022)
Rail density51.4 km / 1,000 km² (2021)
Air connectivity7,262 departures / million people (2023)

Source: World Bank World Development Indicators

HDI
Human development score
Excellent
92
How this score is calculated

The UN Human Development Index is the geometric mean of three dimension indices (a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living), shown on a 0–100 map scale (HDI × 100). The 2023 UNDP inputs behind each dimension are listed below.

HDI0.920 (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Long & healthy life
Life expectancy83.3 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Knowledge
Expected schooling16.1 years (2023)
Mean schooling11.8 years (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Standard of living
GNI / person$55,060 PPP (2023)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025

Resources

Mock data for demonstration only. Not legal or tax advice.