On Thursday, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire stressed that this success was no accident, unanimously attributing the praise to the stability of the country’s economic policy

For the fifth year running, France has maintained its leading position as the most attractive destination for foreign investment, according to the annual barometer published by EY on Wednesday 1 May, just before the Choose France summit.

With 1,194 projects to set up or extend sites announced last year, France was preferred to the UK and Germany, which recorded 985 and 733 announcements respectively, according to the EY statistics to be published on Thursday.

‘This success is no accident’, said Bruno Le Maire. ‘Another victory for Team France’, tweeted Emmanuel Macron.

‘What pride!’ reacted Bruno Le Maire on the social network. ‘This success is no accident! The stability of our economic policy is unanimously praised by investors: we will stay the course.’

Skills, infrastructure and the French market are the main drivers propelling the country to the top of the rankings. France is in first place in 11 of the 15 sectors surveyed, including automotive, industrial equipment, logistics, pharmaceuticals and electronics.

This French domination could continue until 2027, with 76% of investors believing that ‘France will improve over the next three years’. The quality and availability of the workforce are the arguments most often cited (by 25% of investors), on a par with ‘the legal and regulatory environment’, as the barometer reveals.

In France, foreign companies represent 1% of the total (or 17,500 companies), employing 2.2 million people and contributing 16% of GDP, according to INSEE.