Insee Focus · November 2025 · n° 367

French multinationals in 2023 55,200 subsidiaries abroad

In 2023, 6,800 French multinationals (excluding the banking subsidiaries and the non‑commercial services sectors) controlled 55,200 subsidiaries outside France. These subsidiaries employed 7 million people and generated half of the firms’ consolidated turnover.

The large multinationals (with at least 5,000 employees or more than 1.5 billion euros in consolidated annual turnover), although only numbering 200, were dominant, comprising 45% of the subsidiaries and generating 82% of the total consolidated turnover achieved outside France. Half of these firms were established in at least 12 foreign countries.

One in four French subsidiaries was established in the United States, Germany or Spain. The largest workforces were in the United States for industry, in India for services, and in Brazil for the trade sector.