High growth enterprises An increase of 540,000 employees in three years

In 2015, among companies with 10 or more employees in non-agricultural business economy, 15,000, i.e. 8.6%, were 'high growth enterprises': their number of employees increased by more than 10% per year between 2012 and 2015. The proportion of high growth enterprises is the highest in information and communication activities, administrative and support service activities and professional, scientific and technical activities.

While the enterprise's age and économic activity are the main factors associated with high growth, this often goes hand in hand with being part of a group. It is also more frequent when the enterprise exports, has a high level of investment or a high margin.

High growth enterprises play an important role in creating jobs. Their workforces grew by almost 540,000 employees in full-time equivalent jobs between 2012 and 2015. The number of employees in young high growth enterprises, called 'gazelles', doubled in three years (+ 30,000 employees in full-time equivalent jobs).

In France, the proportion of high growth enterprises among all enterprises with 10 employees or more is below the average for the European Union.