Billions in public aid and yet French companies remain the least profitable in Europe, the most taxed and those which devote the largest share of their wealth to salaries

“If we eliminate all aid to businesses, the state deficit disappears.” Last August, Jean-Luc Mélenchon delivered his recipe to the bosses gathered at La REF under the aegis of Medef. The boss of France Insoumise thus compared the 160 billion euros of the public deficit in 2026 and the 211 billion euros in aid from which large groups benefit without the slightest commitment on their part.

According to a census published in October by Bercy, the amount of this aid reached 166 billion euros in 2024 in the broad sense, but this remains higher than the public deficit. The debate on billions of euros of public support for businesses regularly comes up. What are we talking about concretely?

First of all, 27.1 billion euros in tax benefits, notably the research tax credit, 24.4 billion euros in direct aid such as support for apprenticeships, for example, renewable energies or even industrial investments within the framework of France 2030. Added to this are 4.5 billion euros in targeted exemptions from social security contributions, particularly for overseas companies (1.1 billion euros), overtime in SMEs (865 million euros) or home help structures (815 million euros). Finally, 3.9 billion euros correspond to financial interventions by the State, including 1.7 billion euros to honor guarantees on state-guaranteed loans (PGE), 720 million euros for reinsurance of natural disasters and nearly a billion euros in loans and advances intended to support innovation.

And this amount climbs to 166.1 billion euros, or 5.7% of GDP, if we include in particular the 64.7 billion euros in general reductions in employer contributions, the 22.6 billion euros in reduced VAT rates and the 19.1 billion euros in additional aid, mainly devoted to training and work-study programs. If we see it, these are various measures and not a check that the State would write to companies each year, these are significant sums which represent a shortfall for public finances. French companies advantaged?

Are French companies therefore at an advantage? No, according to a new study from the Rexecode institute. According to this working document by economist Anthony Morlet-Lavidalie published in November 2026, French companies, on the contrary, bear taxation and social security contributions that are significantly heavier than their European competitors.

And public aid, although considerable, would not be enough to compensate for this gap. In 2025, compulsory taxes paid by French non-financial companies represented 25.7% of their added value, the highest level among the large countries of the euro zone (19.4% on average), according to Rexecode calculations based on Eurostat data. But what happens if we now deduct public aid?

Machine-translated from French