Paris Olympics: a bill of almost 9 billion euros for the moment

But even if that is the case, these Games would be one of the least expensive editions in modern history.

Private money for the Organizing Committee, in a “risk zone”

The Olympic organizing committee (Cojo) organizes the competition thanks mainly to private money from sponsors (1,24 billion), the International Olympic Committee (1,2 billion) and ticket sales (1,4 billion). In total, already 4,4 billion euros are used to rent the Stade de France, to pay security guards, the beds in the Olympic village, the temporary stands and even the dancers for the opening ceremony...

Initially, the budget was 3,8 billion euros, higher than the 3,2 billion in the application file.

At the end of 2022, Cojo increased its budget by 10%, particularly due to inflation. He then received additional public money of 111 million euros from the State and communities, particularly for the organization of the Paralympic Games. The Court of Auditors considered that this increase also came from the underestimation of the initial budget, a classic in this area.

100 days before the event, "the risk zone is now", notes a government source. Cojo still has a cushion of nearly 120 million euros from which it can draw. A sign that times are tough, he recently asked the Ile-de-France region to contribute to bus transport for accredited people, a cost of ten million euros. The region refused.

The State is monitoring closely: in the event of a deficit, it will intervene because it has given its guarantee of three billion euros. “For the moment, there is no reason to think that there will be a deficit,” recently assured the Minister of Sports and the Olympics, Amélie Oudéa-Castera.

Public money for infrastructure

If "the Games finance the Games", according to the organizers' formula, it was always planned that the infrastructures would be covered by public money. The Olympic village which will be transformed into housing put on the market (646 million including 542 from the State), the footbridge between the Stade de France and the Olympic aquatic center, contributions to the new swimming pools in Seine-Saint-Denis... via the Olympic works delivery company (Solideo), nearly 1,8 billion euros of public funds (State, IDF region, Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, etc.) went to the Olympics.

Solideo's total budget is 4,4 billion euros. Added to the Cojo budget, the bill is close to nine billion euros at 8,8 billion euros. Or two billion more than what was planned for 2019 (6,8 billion).

Other expenses still unquantified

What will be the exact cost of public security, including bonuses of 1.900 euros for police officers? Bonuses for the civil service are not quantified either.

The president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, estimated public investments at three billion euros in the end. “Three, four, five billion euros”, he updated recently, this will be known “after the Olympics”. “There is no reason for it to reach five billion,” retorted Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who assures that there is neither “budgetary drift nor hidden costs”.

Cheaper ?

If we take the estimate from the Court of Auditors, the addition will undoubtedly be around ten billion euros. To which we may have to add the financial surprises of recent months.

The Tokyo Olympics, aggravated by the Covid health crisis and their postponement for a year, cost 12 billion euros according to the Japanese Court of Auditors, almost twice as much as in the candidacy file.

In London, according to evaluations (variable depending on the scope), they cost between 12 and 15 billion euros. In Athens, in 2004, the Olympic Games, which put a strain on the Greek state's deficits, cost 13 billion euros.

“These budgets are probably the most controlled in the history of the Olympics” and “the most soberly organized in 20 years,” says the Minister of the Olympics. Response after the Olympics in a report from the Court of Auditors scheduled for fall 2025.