Why the French are leaving France

Why the French are leaving France: Beyond the millionaires, a systemic crisis. This morning I get up after a hard day on my building site, which marked the completion of the Gérard steel-tile roofing on my A-frame house — a triangular house. Video available here¹ and here². Over lunch I watch the news and come across this video, "Why millionaires are leaving France (and where are they going?)"³. It is a relevant and topical subject that deserves to be developed, and I am going to use my own case to explain why I understand those who have already left and those who wish to do so. Louis Esquier’s recent video "Why millionaires are leaving France (and where are they going?)" highlights a reality far broader than capital flight alone. Contrary to what the title suggests, it is not only millionaires who are considering expatriation. More than 30% of French people say they want to leave⁴, and more than one young person in two expresses the same wish⁵. In 2024, expatriations rose by 2.8%⁶, confirming a worrying trend that reveals a deep malaise in French society. This is therefore not a simple flight of the elite, but an alarming national signal. Fear of bureaucracy, tax pressure, insurmountable administrative obstacles and the excessive protection of bad tenants’ rights at the expense of landlords are discouraging an entire population of entrepreneurs, creators and citizens who simply want to build and do business freely.

The explosion in expatriations: figures that speak for themselves. Official statistics from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirm this worrying trend. As of January 1, 2025, 1,741,942 French people were on the register of French nationals living outside France, an increase of 2.8% compared with 2023⁷. According to the ministry, this rise marks a "slight recovery" after several years of falling registrations. Experts estimate, however, that the real number of French expatriates is close to 2.5 million, since many do not register with their consulate. This increase is only the visible tip of the iceberg. Surveys reveal a massive desire to live elsewhere:

34% of French people aged 18–40 are considering moving abroad, according to a 2024 Ipsos study⁸. 54% of young French people aged 18 to 24 are thinking of leaving France, according to an OpinionWay poll for Économie Matin⁹. These figures are a historic record, beating previous measurements that hovered around 40%. The situation is particularly critical among young graduates. A survey by the Institut Montaigne of students at nine French grandes écoles found that 79% say they are ready to go abroad to look for a job after graduating¹⁰. At HEC, for example, only 16% left for their first job in 2000, compared with 33% in 2013, and the proportion keeps rising.

Bureaucratic hell: when creating becomes an obstacle course. My personal experience of creating a campsite perfectly illustrates this Kafkaesque reality. After five years of administrative procedures and two years of intensive paperwork, the development permit application has not even been filed yet. 📄 Insurmountable administrative complexity. The development permit application file comprises more than 40 pages of forms accompanied by more than 50 technical annexes¹¹. This administrative complexity discourages project developers before they can even begin. The required documents include: • Location, site, and horizontal and vertical section plans • Detailed safety reports • Potential environmental impact studies • A host of other supporting documents. 👨‍🎨 The obligation to hire an architect: a prohibitive cost. Since decree 2017-252 of February 27, 2017, using an architect is compulsory for subdivisions where the land to be developed exceeds 2,500 m²¹². This obligation is a considerable financial obstacle. Architects base their fees on the finished, ideal overall project. When a project costs 1 to 2 million euros and may take 20 to 30 years to complete, the architect asks for outrageous sums from the start, before the project has generated a single euro.

🚒 The unpredictability of fire service requirements. The problem of the requirements of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Services (SDIS) perfectly illustrates the unpredictability of the system. The SDIS do not state their requirements before the development permit application is filed. It is only during the review, when the file goes before the fire-safety commission, that additional works (maneuvering areas, extinguishers, special access) may be demanded according to their own internal rules. This lack of visibility makes any reliable estimate of the total cost impossible before the application is filed, creating total financial uncertainty for project developers.

Confiscatory taxation: taxing before producing. The French tax system applied to development projects reveals an economically absurd logic. For my campsite project, more than 110,000 euros of development tax are demanded as soon as the permit is filed, before a single euro of turnover and, worse still, before a single stone has been laid. This tax is calculated according to precise scales, of which here is an extract¹³: • 3,000 euros per tent/caravan pitch • 10,000 euros per light leisure dwelling (HLL) • 3,000 euros for each parking space. This upfront taxation is a real economic lock. Considerable sums are taken from you, often two seasons before the actual launch, when you have not even started building. This is not regulation; it is economic strangulation.

Excessive environmental protection: a pretext for stifling initiative. 💸 Deterrent fines per square meter. France has developed an environmental approach that, under the pretext of protecting biodiversity, stifles all entrepreneurial initiative. Owners who simply want to maintain their land find themselves threatened with fines of up to 150,000 euros for destroying protected species¹⁴. The Environment Code provides for particularly heavy penalties: "Undermining the conservation of non-domestic animal species is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of €150,000"¹⁵.

📊 The hell of impact studies. For my campsite project, an environmental impact study costing at least 20,000 euros was demanded, just to find out the impact of tent canvas on the tufts of moss in the forest opposite. This study would have produced a report as thick as a 3 Suisses mail-order catalogue, for an eco-responsible campsite project! Fortunately, I was able to obtain an exemption from the DREAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing) after months of waiting and constant stress. But this exemption illustrates the absurdity of the system: why demand such an expensive study only to cancel it in the end? 🏛️ The impossible association. We wanted to set up a non-profit association under the 1901 law, recognized as being of general interest, in order to raise funds from foundations (which only fund associations of general interest because of the tax deductions). Objective: to organize participatory work camps to bring this atypical, demonstration campsite to life. Result after 6 months of waiting, despite reminders at 2 months, 4 months and 5 months and 20 days: the tax administration waited until the last day to give a negative answer. Reason: since I own the land AND chair the association, if we carried out fine works, this would increase the value of my land, hence a "conflict of interest", hence recognition of general interest refused. Six months lost, anger and frustration over an absurd bureaucratic reason.

The housing crisis: when landlords become suspects. France is experiencing a historic housing crisis that affects every region. According to the Fondation Abbé Pierre, more than 4.2 million people were poorly housed in France in 2024, and 330,000 were homeless¹⁶. Paradoxically, instead of encouraging the landlords who could help resolve this crisis, the system criminalizes and discourages them. ⚖️ Unbalanced rights. As a landlord, I am treated as the default suspect in any rental relationship. If a tenant does not pay, damages the property or squats, my hands are tied. Eviction procedures take months, even years, and I have no immediate recourse, even in the event of obvious damage.

More than 19,000 evictions took place in 2024¹⁷, often without lasting rehousing solutions, but the process remains laborious for legitimate owners, discouraging them from continuing to invest in rental property. 🔧 The obligation of energy renovation. This situation is all the more absurd because mandatory energy renovation imposes additional constraints on landlords. I had to pay 6,000 euros to install a heat pump in order to have the right — the right! — to rent out one of my properties again, raising my dwelling from G to D even though it has no insulation at all! The President of the Republic’s stated support for the heat pump lobby has resulted in a national plan to produce one million units by 2027, with public grants, reduced VAT and a zero-interest eco-loan for owners. While the goal of decarbonizing heating is laudable, the perverse effects of this policy are very real, particularly for tenants. The phenomenon is widespread: owners invest in expensive equipment to avoid the ban on renting, but raise rents to recoup the investment. Result: renovated housing becomes unaffordable, and unrenovated housing is withdrawn from the market, aggravating the housing crisis. This obligation comes in the midst of a housing crisis in which every available property should be precious to the rental market.

Regulatory instability: the DPE nightmare. The Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE) perfectly illustrates French regulatory instability. The rules change constantly, creating permanent legal uncertainty for owners. The gradual ban on renting out "thermal sieves" (homes rated F and G) makes the situation even worse¹⁸. Since January 1, 2025, homes rated G may no longer be rented out, and this ban will extend to homes rated F in 2028 and then to homes rated E in 2034. This regulation affects more than 17% of France’s stock of main residences, or about 5.2 million homes¹⁹, massively withdrawing housing from the rental market at the very moment France faces a dramatic shortage.

Tolerated insecurity: when victims become the guilty ones

Insecurity is growing even in rural areas that were traditionally spared. On my land, I have suffered two attempted burglaries on my caravans. The gendarmes took 40 minutes to arrive, leaving the criminals ample time to search, break things and leave calmly. ⚖️ Self-defense made impossible. But the most absurd thing remains the legal prohibition that prevents me from detaining these burglars caught red-handed. If I hold them at gunpoint, even without firing, I risk being prosecuted for psychological violence. If I stop them by tying them to my kiwi trellis to prevent them from fleeing while waiting for the police, I would be convicted of false imprisonment²⁰. French law protects burglars more than their victims. Statistics show that 217,000 burglaries were recorded in France in 2023²¹, but the clear-up rate remains low, particularly in rural areas where gendarmerie numbers are reduced.

Taxation that stifles even the smallest incomes. French tax relentlessness is not limited to large fortunes. My YouTube channel, which earned me 90 euros, forced me to open an account with French Customs solely to declare this paltry sum, on top of having to create a business to declare this income — a creation that proved impossible because my identity card was not in the right format, forcing me to go through the procedures again to apply for a new digitized one, which, by the way, I still have not received to date. This petty bureaucracy for micro-incomes perfectly illustrates the administrative harassment suffered by all content creators and micro-entrepreneurs, while large multinational groups continue to optimize their taxes in tax havens.

A widespread malaise: hospitals, immigration, justice, the army. Beyond the obstacles to enterprise, other factors feed the feeling of decline and the desire to leave: 🏥 A hospital system in crisis. In 2025, the deficit of public hospitals reached 3.5 billion euros²², a worrying record. More than 68% of French people have given up at least one medical treatment in the last 5 years²³. Pediatric emergency rooms and hospital departments are closing for lack of staff, with an average obsolescence rate of public facilities of 58% in 2023²⁴.

🌍 Immigration and a feeling of suffocation. A growing part of the French population, particularly among the working classes and in peri-urban or rural areas, expresses the feeling of no longer being at home²⁵. This feeling, often described in some discourse as "migratory submersion" or "great replacement," reflects a loss of cultural, linguistic and social bearings in neighborhoods where the proportion of inhabitants of foreign origin sometimes exceeds 50 to 70% depending on the municipality²⁶. This malaise is fueled by several factors: • Non-integration of newcomers: despite the efforts of some local authorities, learning French, respecting social codes and economic integration remain insufficient. The unemployment rate of immigrants from the Maghreb or Turkey is twice that of natives²⁷. • Geographic concentration: in the absence of a distribution policy, some areas such as Seine-Saint-Denis or certain towns in the North have become zones of relegation, where community tensions are exacerbated. • Delinquency and insecurity: although the majority of immigrants are not delinquents, the crime rate is higher in neighborhoods with a high concentration of migrants, which fuels generalizations and fears²⁸. • Failure of republican integration: France has no municipal population register or detailed mapping of the immigrant population, which makes any integration policy ineffective²⁹. • Media and political taboo: any criticism of immigration is often equated with racism or fascism, which prevents a calm and rational debate³⁰. This climate pushes some citizens to consider expatriation, not out of rejection of foreigners, but out of exhaustion with a system that no longer listens to them. They are fleeing a France where they feel they have become strangers in their own home, where their values are marginalized, and where the State seems powerless to guarantee national cohesion. ⚖️ Judicial laxity and excessive delays. In civil matters, average delays reach 637 days at first instance, three times longer than in Germany³¹. France is regularly condemned for excessive slowness by the European Court of Human Rights, and some cases illustrate the flaws of the judicial system. This situation generates a massive loss of confidence: 53% of French people say they do not trust the justice system, and 67% have a negative image of it³², judging it slow, opaque, lax and ineffective. The causes are many: lack of human resources, budgetary under-investment, overloaded courts, increasingly complex procedures, and the absence of structural reform despite the États généraux de la justice launched in 2021. Magistrates are often overwhelmed, court registries under-resourced and IT tools obsolete. The budget per inhabitant devoted to justice is €72.50 in France, compared with €146 in Germany. France is regularly condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for excessive trial delays, and litigants suffer

moral harm linked to prolonged uncertainty. Eviction procedures, rental disputes, domestic violence and even serious criminal cases are handled with delays that undermine the credibility of the institution. 🏚️ Rights of offenders vs. citizens. Before 2023, squatters enjoyed delays and protections that made their eviction very difficult. Citizen petitions denounce the fact that owners are sometimes prosecuted for defending their property³³, creating the feeling that offenders have more rights than honest citizens. 🪖 A weakened army. The French army is struggling to recruit and retain personnel, with a shortfall of 3,000 personnel in 2023³⁴. Equipment is aging, and despite efforts, France will only be able to deploy a "combat-ready" division in 2027³⁵. Despite an increase in the defense budget (from 39 to 60 billion euros between 2017 and 2025), the French army remains too weak to face a high-intensity conflict. It has been described as a "bonsai" army³⁶: able to do everything, but not for long and not in mass. Numbers are insufficient, ammunition stocks critical and projection capabilities limited. In a prolonged war, France would run out of ammunition within the first few weeks³⁷. The 19th Artillery Brigade, meant to embody the renewal of deep strike, does not yet have an autonomous command post or independent tactical communications³⁸. Donations to Ukraine have reduced operational capabilities, and replacements have not yet been delivered. The army also suffers from a lack of transparency about its real capabilities, since the government no longer releases precise figures on available equipment. Strategic thinking is considered ossified, and French nuclear doctrine, though powerful, isolates France from its European partners. The current army model, designed for one-off interventions in Africa or the Middle East, is no longer suited to a war on European soil, like the one in Ukraine. Even the ability to hold an 80 km front is in doubt.

Understanding without judging. In view of all this, I could legitimately be tempted to give it all up, to write off my efforts and leave this country to start again elsewhere, in a more attractive, smoother and more encouraging economic, legal, tax and administrative environment. The idea crosses my mind, as it crosses the minds of so many other disillusioned French people. And yet... I stay. Not out of naivety or resignation, but out of a visceral attachment to this land, to its culture, to what it has represented and what it could become again. My patriotism holds me back, despite the disgust that current politics inspires in me, a disgust deep enough that I withdrew from it many years ago. Staying is an act of faith, of resistance, sometimes even of discomfort — but for now, it is still my choice. Until when?

I understand those who have left and those who wish to leave, just as I understand those who want to stay or who cannot do otherwise than stay. I also understand those who want to fight and will enter into resistance, directly or indirectly. Despite the glimmers of hope — for "hope, the quintessence of human emotions, is both our greatest strength and our greatest weakness" — when a people wants to leave, the malaise runs deep. As John F. Kennedy said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." France has a choice: simplify, trust and unleash creative energies, or continue to see its talents leave for countries that have chosen administrative simplicity and trust in their entrepreneurial citizens.

See my related articles: • Billions in savings? Yes, it’s possible³⁹ • The Organized Decline of France: Economic Betrayal and the Abandonment of Our Sovereignty⁴⁰ • Starting a Business in France: An Obstacle Course or a Dead End?⁴¹ • Structural and Legislative Failures of Home Energy Renovation Schemes⁴² • Democracy in Crisis: Deviations and Challenges of Our Time⁴³

Sources ¹ Triangular house video 1: https://youtu.be/lJKdGrfSxrI ² Triangular house video 2: https://youtu.be/H3pIdbMsOhw ³ Louis Esquier video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYrkcURK568 ⁴ Ipsos survey for the Maison de l’expatriation (2024): https://lepetitjournal.com/expat- mag/vie-expat/pourquoi-expatriation-seduit-monde-francais-2024-385935 ⁵ OpinionWay poll for Économie Matin (December 2023): https://www.lejdd.fr/societe/54-des-jeunes-francais-determines-quitter-la-france-en-raison-du- climat-politique-et-economique-140600 ⁶ Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (February 2025): https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-francais/l-action-consulaire-missions-chiffres- cles/la-communaute-francaise-a-l-etranger-en-chiffres/

⁷ Decree No. 2025-104 of February 3, 2025: https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux- francais/l-action-consulaire-missions-chiffres-cles/la-communaute-francaise-a-l-etranger-en- chiffres/ ⁸ Ipsos survey 2024: https://lepetitjournal.com/expat-mag/vie-expat/pourquoi-expatriation- seduit-monde-francais-2024-385935 ⁹ OpinionWay poll: https://www.lejdd.fr/societe/54-des-jeunes-francais-determines- quitter-la-france-en-raison-du-climat-politique-et-economique-140600 ¹⁰ Institut Montaigne: https://www.institutmontaigne.org/expressions/enquete-sur-le-depart- letranger-des-jeunes-diplomes-francais ¹¹ Service-Public.fr: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F17665 ¹² Decree 2017-252 of February 27, 2017 and Urban Planning Code R. 441-4.2: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000034132386 ¹³ General Tax Code, Article 1635 quater A: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000033746940 ¹⁴ Environment Code, Articles L.415-3 to L415-8: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006074220/LEGISCTA0000 06176527/ ¹⁵ Article L. 415-3 of the Environment Code: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000038812230 ¹⁶ Fondation pour le Logement, 30th report 2025: https://www.fondationpourlelogement.fr/actualites/30e-rapport-sur-letat-du-mal-logement-en- france-2025 ¹⁷ Fondation Abbé Pierre, 2025 report: https://www.fondationpourlelogement.fr/actualites/30e-rapport-sur-letat-du-mal-logement-en- france-2025 ¹⁸ Climate and Resilience Law: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A17154 ¹⁹ National Observatory of Energy Renovation: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/observatoire-national-renovation-energetique-onre ²⁰ Penal Code, Articles 122-5 and 224-1 on self-defense and false imprisonment: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006417219 ²¹ SSMSI, 2023 review: https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/actualites/communiques-de- presse/insecurite-et-delinquance-en-2023-bilan-statistique-et-atlas ²² Hospital data 2025, Ministry of Health: https://www.sante.gouv.fr/ ²³ Access to care survey 2024: https://www.sante.gouv.fr/

²⁴ Report on the obsolescence of public facilities 2023: https://www.sante.gouv.fr/ ²⁵ Sociological studies on the sense of belonging 2024: https://www.insee.fr/ ²⁶ INSEE, statistics on the immigrant population: https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3633212 ²⁷ Le Point, immigration controversies: https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/les-polemiques-de-l- immigration-y-a-t-il-trop-d-immigres-05-11-2023-2542018_20.php ²⁸ SSMSI, 2023 delinquency review: https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/actualites/communiques-de- presse/insecurite-et-delinquance-en-2023-bilan-statistique-et-atlas ²⁹ Le Point, republican integration: https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/les-polemiques-de-l- immigration-y-a-t-il-trop-d-immigres-05-11-2023-2542018_20.php ³⁰ Atlantico, media taboo: https://atlantico.fr/article/decryptage/fascisme-partout-islamo- gauchisme-et-problemes-causes-par-limmigration-nulle-part-de-quel-mal-intellectuel-souffre- la-france ³¹ Comparative European civil justice statistics: https://www.justice.gouv.fr/ ³² French Senate, report on confidence in justice: https://www.senat.fr/fileadmin/Fichiers/Images/redaction_multimedia/2021/2021- Documents_PDF/20210928_Rapport_complet_CSA.pdf ³³ Citizen petitions on owners’ rights vs. squatters: https://www.change.org/ ³⁴ French Army recruitment data 2023: https://www.defense.gouv.fr/ ³⁵ French military build-up plan: https://www.defense.gouv.fr/ ³⁶ Le Point, bonsai army: https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/il-y-a-en-france-une-sclerose-de-la- pensee-militaire-et-strategique-15-01-2024-2549761_24.php ³⁷ Meta Defense, weaknesses of the armed forces: https://meta-defense.fr/2025/01/30/faiblesses-des- armees-opinion-2025/ ³⁸ Opex News, 19th Artillery Brigade: https://opexnews.fr/19e-brigade-artillerie-rapport- parlementaire/ ³⁹ Billions in savings? Yes, it’s possible: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/des- milliards-d%25C3%25A9conomie-oui-cest-possible-david-salvan- nquxf/?trackingId=9kvNI%2Bx5S52hunAa06YDOg%3D%3D ⁴⁰ The Organized Decline of France: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/le-d%25C3%25A9clin- organis%25C3%25A9-de-la-france-trahison-%25C3%25A9conomique-et-david-salvan- lglvf/?trackingId=9kvNI%2Bx5S52hunAa06YDOg%3D%3D

⁴¹ Starting a Business in France: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/entreprendre-en-france-un- parcours-du-combattant-une-impasse-salvan- ddudf/?trackingId=9kvNI%2Bx5S52hunAa06YDOg%3D%3D ⁴² Failures of energy renovation schemes: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/d%25C3%25A9faillances-structurelles-et- l%25C3%25A9gislatives-des-de-logements-salvan- 3zwbf/?trackingId=9kvNI%2Bx5S52hunAa06YDOg%3D%3D ⁴³ Democracy in Crisis: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/la-d%25C3%25A9mocratie-en- crise-d%25C3%25A9viations-et-d%25C3%25A9fis-de-notre-%25C3%25A9poque-salvan- vfg8f/?trackingId=9kvNI%2Bx5S52hunAa06YDOg%3D%3D