Paris Olympics: Will the Games boost the French economy?

With the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games now concluded, France is left with a bill exceeding €8 billion for hosting the world’s biggest sporting event. The question remains: will the Games stimulate the French economy, or will the expenses outweigh the potential gains?

The cost of hosting the Olympics is estimated to be around €8 billion, with around €2 billion covered by national expenses. The remainder was funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and private sponsors.
Paris would have hosted the least expensive Summer Games in decades. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, by contrast, cost over €12 billion, according to the IOC. That’s because the French capital relied almost entirely on existing venues instead of building new ones.
Although a precise figure is not yet available, initial data is already promising, according to Choose Paris Region, the capital’s economic and tourism development agency.
“What’s positive is that we had 500,000 more tourists than last summer. And that, of course, has a definite economic impact. There were more international tourists than we had expected. So here too, the clientele tends to spend more,” said Alexandra Dublanche, the President of Choose Paris Region.
“The tourists are mostly British, American and German. But we’re also seeing an increase in Asian tourists returning after the COVID-19 pandemic with a 7 percent increase in the coming months,” she explained to Euronews.
The Centre for Law and Economy of Sport (CDES) estimates that the event could generate between €6.7 billion and €11 billion in financial benefits for the Paris region. The exact figures will be published in a few months.
These benefits could also produce ripple effects in the long run.
“For the benefits to come, the outlook is quite encouraging. We’re seeing an increase in airline bookings of +7 percent in October and +6 percent in November, compared to 2023, even though last year was already a very positive year with the Rugby World Cup,” said Dublanche.
On Tuesday, the Bank of France confirmed its forecast for the third quarter, with growth in economic activity estimated at “around 0.4 percent”, partly thanks to the Olympics.
The Paris region spent approximately €500 million in total for the organisation of the Summer Games.
In comparison, the second quarter of the year recorded a 0.2 percent increase in economic activity.