Insee Focus · November 2022 · n° 278

In 2020, the United States remained the leading country for the establishment of French multinationals abroad

In 2020, French multinationals (excluding the banking subsidiaries and non-commercial services sectors) controlled 48,600 subsidiaries abroad. These subsidiaries generated half of the firms’ consolidated turnover and employed 6.6 million people. The large multinationals were dominant, comprising 44% of the subsidiaries and generating 82% of the total consolidated turnover achieved abroad. Half of these firms were established in at least 13 foreign countries. One French subsidiary in four was established in the United States, Germany or the United Kingdom. Of the employees working for subsidiaries in the sales sector, a relatively high proportion worked from Brazil and Spain.