SUMMARY
Published since 1999 by AmCham France, the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Bain & Company, the Barometer measures the sentiment of U.S. investors in France each year. The 26th edition is based on a survey of 140 executives from subsidiaries of U.S. corporations, conducted between December 2025 and January 2026.
Sentiment remains at a historically low level: the Net Promoter Score (NPS)* for France as an investment destination stands at -36%, only 30% of respondents rate the country’s image as good or excellent in the eyes of their parent company (-34 points since 2022), and 94% anticipate political and institutional risks. The economic context has become the primary decision-making factor; 35% report a negative impact on their projects, leading to a growing wait-and-see attitude.
Structural strengths remain: a skilled workforce, infrastructure, innovation (77% positive opinions), and quality of life, while 87% already recognize the impact of AI on their performance. Obstacles persist: labor costs, taxation, administrative complexity, and the social climate.
Geographically, the Île-de-France region accounts for 82% of business locations; location, economic dynamism, and infrastructure take precedence over financial incentives. Satisfaction with regional initiatives ranges from 35% in Île-de-France to 61% in Hauts-de-France and Grand Est, with 50% in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
* Net Promoter® is a registered trademark of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc. The Net Promoter Score (NPS®) measures the likelihood of recommending a country, a company, or a product through a single question: “Would you recommend this country, this product, or this company to your friends or colleagues?” Respondents assign a score from 0 to 10, which classifies them into three categories: promoters (9–10), passives (7–8), and detractors (6 or lower). The NPS® is calculated as the difference between the percentages of “promoters” and “detractors.”
Keywords: attractiveness, business climate, competitiveness, economic conditions, survey, United States, Europe, political instability, public policy, regions, transatlantic, ecological transition, fiscal transparency
Illustration: AmCham-Bain Barometer 2026
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Excerpts from the AmCham-Bain 2023 Barometer
Methodology and Profile of the U.S. Investors Surveyed
Between December 2025 and January 2026, a questionnaire was distributed to executives at most of the French subsidiaries of U.S. companies. A total of 140 responses were collected from companies representing more than 150,000 employees in France and more than 100 billion euros in revenue in France.
The sample of responding companies is balanced and representative, both in terms of company size and their industry sector, as well as their geographic location in the Île-de-France region or other regions:
- it includes 39% of companies with more than 1,000 employees in France, 43% of companies with between 100 and 1,000 employees, and 17% of companies with fewer than 100 employees.
- The most represented sector is information technology (18% of respondents), followed by research and consulting (15%), and then the pharmaceutical industry (13%). The chemical and para-chemical sector accounts for 9% of the sample, followed by the transportation/logistics and electronics/electricity sectors at 7%.
Respondents are primarily executives: company presidents and CEOs (28% of the sample) or other directors and senior executives (50%).
