Corruption in France

France has ratified several important international anti-corruption conventions such as the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. In general, investors do not consider corruption a problem for doing business in France, and companies operating in France generally have a good reputation for corporate social responsibility.

The French National Assembly have passed two bills for combating tax evasion. However, in recent years there have been several corruption scandals involving high-ranking public officials. Public works and the defence industry are considered the most affected by corruption.

Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scored France at 66 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, France ranked 27th among the 182 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among Western European and European Union countries was 89, the average score was 64 and the worst score was 40. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 89 (ranked 1), the average score was 42, and the worst score was 9 (ranked 181, in a two-way tie).

Extent and perceptions

In 2011, Transparency International concluded in its annual report 2011 that France does not do enough to stop corruption. A TNS Sofres poll in October 2011 indicated that 72% of the French public had the perception that politicians are corrupt.

In France, in 2009 all major foreign investors and exporters and more than 80 per cent of surveyed executives admitted to 'not being familiar at all' with one of the most important legal frameworks in global business. A cartel constitutes a crime punishable by imprisonment and/or fines. Staff and budgets for public enforcement of securities regulation was one third in France compared to the UK in 2008.