France has approximately 4.9 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 99.8% of the total business population.
The stock of outstanding business loans to SMEs stood at 674 343 million in 2024, a decline of 2.22% compared to 2023, but an increase of 30% relative to 2019. As a result, the share of SME outstanding loans in total business loans has fallen slightly, below the pre-crisis average by 3.1 percentage points.
The proportion of non-performing loans (NPLs) increased between 2023 and 2025 in line with the number of insolvencies (+6% year on year, reaching 68 000 insolvencies in 2025), but NPLs remain at historically low levels (2.1% in 2025, of which 2.3% for households and 3.7% for Non Financial Corporations, compared with an average of 3.5% between 2014 and 2020).
Interest rates for SMEs and large companies were stable around 4.3% in 2023 and 2024, following an increase in 2021 and 2022 from historical lows in 2020.The interest rate gap between SMEs and large companies narrowed in 2024, and access to financing for SMEs has become slightly more difficult as indicated by the rising rejection rate exceeding pre-crisis levels (1.6% of rejection rate against 1.2% for 2015-2019).
In 2024, private equity investments increased by 38%, following a strong decline in 2023. Nonetheless, the number of companies funded through private equity continues to grow, marking a 4% increase compared to 2023 despite the high-rate environment and exceeding by far the average level observed between 2016 and 2021 (941 vs an average of 635). Investments in venture and growth capital in 2024 stood at EUR 4.9 billion, an increase of 38% vs. 2023, while expansion capital stood at EUR 3.9 billion invested in 2024, a decline of 14% vs. 2023. The sub-total of venture capital, growth capital and expansion capital investments has doubled in 8 years.
Crowdfunding declined for the first time in 2023 due to a deteriorated environment and rising interest rates. But, since 2015, annual volume of equity crowdfunding provided through the platforms grew 12.5 times.
Factoring volumes decreased by 12% in 2024, as did the number of ongoing operations (-4.3%). Activity development has been important since the pandemic crisis, with a 30% increase of volumes compared to 2020.
With a budget of EUR 54 billion, the France 2030 plan seeks to position France as a global leader in future innovations. Having moved past the post-COVID recovery phase, the initiative has accelerated significantly: as of the 2024 activity report, EUR40 billion have already been committed across more than 7 400 projects. Today, strategic investments are primarily focused on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space, and industrial decarbonization, aiming to build lasting technological sovereignty.