Positive balance of 57 new factories in France in 2023 after 49 in 2022, according to Lescure

“When I was appointed Minister of Industry, a year and a half ago, I did not have an exhaustive objective measure of reindustrialization,” declared the minister on Franceinfo, announcing the creation of a new “ State industrial barometer", available since Wednesday morning, showing the net results of the openings, closures of industrial sites, and significant extensions of production lines over the past year.

“The industrial base is present and continues to expand” in France, particularly in the agri-food sector and in green and eco-circular industries (recycling, batteries, hydrogen electrolysers, renewable energy, methanizers, etc.), it is emphasized in the minister's office.

According to raw figures published on Wednesday, 170 new factories opened in France in 2023, accompanied by 184 “significant extensions” of industrial sites, while 113 factories closed and 40 “significant reductions” were recorded. That is a net balance of 57 additional factories (+16%), or a balance of 201 sites taking into account expansions (+14%).

For the previous year, in 2022, the barometer shows the opening of 139 new factories, 151 “significant extensions”, 90 factory closures, and 24 “significant reductions” of production lines. That is to say a positive net balance of 49 factories, or 176 sites with extensions.

The two most dynamic regions are Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (net balance of +73 sites including extensions) and Nouvelles Aquitaine (+30), alone concentrating 50% of net openings, as in 2022, followed by Normandy (+24).

The Hauts-de-France region, on the other hand, shows a negative net balance of -9, after -6 in 2022.

“This region has experienced closures in traditional sectors of industry, but it is also where the openings of battery gigafactories are concentrated, the Renault electric vehicle hub in Douai, and that of battery components in Dunkirk” , we emphasize in the minister's office.

The agri-food sector retains its first place in 2023, while the metallurgy sector "appears the most in difficulty", according to the same source.

The new indicator takes into account neither the amount of investments nor the number of jobs created.

On this issue, Mr. Lescure announced Monday that “130.000 new industrial jobs” were created in France in 2023 compared to 2017.

Until now, two indicators were used to gauge reindustrialization, one established by the company Trendeo, and an “Observatory of innovative industrial startups, SMEs and ETIs” established since 2023 by the public investment bank Bpifrance. The magazine L’Usine Nouvelle also publishes its own count.

Trendeo counts logistics warehouses which are not strictly speaking in the industry, and works "on an open source basis", including announcements of site openings by companies, pointed out the firm.

The government indicator intends to only count "effective" openings and closings, based "on authorizations issued by state services", the cabinet specified.

For 2023, Bpifrance announced last week that it had identified 113 inaugurations of industrial sites last year, of which 60 came from start-ups, and 58 from innovative SMEs and ETIs.

The ministry said it was “seeking to cross-reference” its figures with those of Bpifrance.