What will be the economic impact of the Olympic Games (26 July – 11 August) and the Paralympic Games (28 August – 8 September) for France?
Apart from some sectors that should benefit from the event, the result promises to be more psychological than financial.
The estimated cost of the Games is close to €9 billion, but has not yet been confirmed. The budget of the Organising Committee (OCOG), supplemented by ticket revenue, sponsorships and funds from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is estimated at €4.4 billion.
That of Solidéo, the company that delivers Olympic projects, including the Olympic Village, is also 4.4 billion.
The total bill for Paris 2024 in terms of public authorities remains dependent on many contingencies: the amount of extraordinary bonuses granted to public servants, the cost of the police system…
To date, the state and communities have committed €2.4 billion (mainly through Solidéo). According to the first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, the final bill will reach 3 to 5 billion euros.
According to the report by the Center for Sports Law and Economics (CDES), commissioned by the IOC and Paris 2024 to quantify the additional economic activity linked to the Games, the event will generate economic benefits of between 6.7 and 11.1 billion euros.
In February, the financial research company Astères expected that the Games would have “increase in tax and social revenues by 5.3 billion euros”.
As economists at Deutsche Bank point out, “Countries hosting the Olympic Games (…) rarely obtain positive economic and social returns from investment, often public and massive, in new stadiums and infrastructure”.
“Even in the short term”the multiplier effect of investment on employment or income is limited, “unless the host country is experiencing a recession”they add.
For the Governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Gayot, the impact of the Games will be “psychological” before the economic.
But if thanks to the fact that “France’s image will improve even more among the world and among Europeans, we should benefit from an investment point of view”scheduled for mid-March.
According to CDES, infrastructure construction and renovation companies can count on benefits of between 2.1 and 3 billion euros.
With expected benefits of 1.4 to 3.6 billion euros, tourism professionals should also benefit from the approximately 15 million visitors expected this summer.
Among other potentially lucrative financial sectors, Franco-German financial services group Oddo BHF reports the “media, leisure, beverages and spirits, consumer goods and transportation”.