Foreign investment in France falls

Foreign direct investment in France went down last year, unlike foreign investment in the rest of Europe, accordig to a report issued Monday. Although the number of jobs created rose, the rate was lower than the European average.

Paris's La Défense business district Reuters/Christian Hartmann

Foreign direct investment in France fell two percent to 598 projects in 2015, according to investment analysts Ernst & Young's annual survey, although the country remained at number three in the European league table after the UK, where it rose 20 percent to 1,065, and Germany, up nine percent to 946.

That was the only fall in the top 15 European countries listed in the survey.

The amount of jobs created by foreign investors rose eight percent to 13,639 but again that was substantially lower than the average of 17 percent.

France's image improved by 12 points, according to "international deciders" questioned by Ernst & Young, but that looked unlikely to bear financial fruit - only 24 percent planned to invest, down 11 points.