Trends in France for achieving the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals (SDG)

In 2021, 120,968 cases of over-indebtedness were submitted to commissions in mainland France. Contrary to the expectations of a great number of analysts, the pandemic has not yet triggered a rise in national over-indebtedness. Therefore the number of cases submitted is 15% less than 2019, the reference year, taking into consideration the atypical circumstances of 2020. In 2022, the downward trend in the number of cases continued.

In France, the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SRCV) survey collects data on income and financial situation as well as employment, well-being and health. These data enable the poverty rate to be measured in terms of living conditions, an indicator designed to provide a better understanding of the phenomena of poverty and social exclusion and to assess the effectiveness of policies to combat inequalities. In 2022, the poverty rate in terms of living conditions stood at 14% up from 2020 (+2.7 points). The 2022 figures are slightly above the average rate of 13.1% in the EU.

The housing expenditure to income ratio is an indicator of housing accessibility that measures housing expenditure as a share of total income. In 2017, households devoted an average of 19.7% of their income to housing. figure 1. This housing expenditure to income ratio is higher for tenants in the private sector (28.6%) and first time buyers (27.5%) than for tenants in the social sector (24.1%) with capped rentals. 25% of the poorest households (mainly tenants) devote 32.0% of their income to housing expenses, versus 14.1% for the wealthiest households (most of them home-owners but not first time buyers).

The Écoantibio plan has produced very positive results: overall animal exposure to antibiotics has been reduced by half since 2011 (down 47% over 10 years according to the results for the 2011-2021 period, with the first Écoantibio plan implemented in 2012).

An improvement was recorded in the diversity of arable crops.
The agricultural ecosystems in mainland France are divided up as follows: 62% arable land, 34% grassland and 4% perennial crops (vines and orchards).
The average Simpson’s index for arable farms in France is 2.59. For over 85% of farms, less than four crops cover more than 80% of the cultivated land.

Changes in the status of breeds are relatively rare and the indicators are stable, in particular in the classification used here with only two statuses (at risk or not at risk, without quantification of risk level such as high or low, for example).

There was a rise in the number of people choosing to forgo protein consumption for financial reasons between 2020 and 2022 (+2.1 points), but it remains difficult to observe a long-term trend. Food insecurity has manifested in several ways since the Covid-19 pandemic and a National Coordination Committee for the Fight against Food Insecurity (Cocolupa) was established in November 2020 to combat food insecurity. This increase can be explained by the significant level of inflation which stood at 5.2% in 2022, with the consumer price index for the food sector reaching 122.7 in December 2022 (base 100 for the year 2015).

The HIV-test system, rolled out across France in January 2022 allows adults insured under the social security system to go for free screening in a laboratory, without a medical prescription. From January 2022 to June 2023, approximately 574,000 HIV screenings were covered by Assurance Maladie health insurance. This screening was carried out for 47% men and 53% women. Close to 40% of these people were aged between 20 and 39. The number of HIV-positive people in 2022 was estimated between 4,233 [confidence range 95%: 4,139-4,326] and 5,738 [confidence range 95%: 5,588-5,888]. The increase observed between 2020 and 2022 came after a significant fall in 2020 related to the Covid-19 pandemic and explained due to reductions in the number of screenings carried out, less migratory flows and most likely less exposure to HIV because of social distancing measures.

After an unprecedented drop in daily tobacco use between 2016 and 2019 (from 29.4% to 24.0% in mainland France), the prevalence has been stable since 2019. In 2022 in mainland France, more than three out of ten 18-75 year-olds declared to be smokers (31.8%) and a quarter of them were daily smokers (24.5%). Men smoke more than women (27.4% daily tobacco use versus 21.7%).

In 2022, 75,803 people aged 10 or over, of which 64% women, were admitted to hospital for self-inflicted injuries (attempted suicide or self-harm) for short-term acute care (STAC). In 2021, 8,951 deaths by suicide were recorded, representing 13.9 in 100,000 people, relatively stable figures compared to the previous year. The number of deaths recorded is similar to the 2015 figure and remains higher for men (6,752) than women (2,199), representing respective standardised mortality rates of 21.8 and 6.2 in 100,000 people.

For mainland France in 2021, 94.9% of adults declared to have consumed alcohol in their lifetime, a relatively stable figure since the early 1990s, when the first public health barometers were introduced in France. The share of adults in the 18-75 age range who declared to have consumed alcohol at least once in the last 12 months took a slight downturn between 2017 (86.5%) and 2021 (85.0%). Those who consume on a weekly basis represented 62.6% in 2000 and then 39.0% in 2021. The proportion of adults who consume alcohol on a daily basis was 23.9% in 1992 versus 8.0% in 2021.

In 2022, 3,550 people died in road traffic accidents in mainland France (3,267) and overseas France (283). This represents a 1.5% rise versus 2019 and a 10.3% rise versus 2021. The resumption of travel in 2021 was offset by the period of lockdown in April, the curfews in the first half of the year, and several periods when working from home was strongly recommended. The road accident rate in the first half of 2021 was often lower than in 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year.

In 2021, 15.4% of people residing in France and over the age of 15 were digitally illiterate: 13.9% had not used the Internet during the preceding three months and 1.5% had used it but did not claim to have basic digital knowledge. Digital illiteracy most definitely increases with age and is more common among low income households. Furthermore, 28% of Internet users have limited digital capabilities, i.e. they are lacking skills in one, two or three of the five areas. These are searching for information, online communication, the use of software, privacy and online troubleshooting. Between 2019 and 2021, digital illiteracy decreased slightly due to modifications in behaviour as a result of the pandemic.

Almost 10% of Europeans aged between 18 and 24 left school prematurely with the equivalent of a French high school level of education, according to Eurostat 2022 data. France is one of the countries with the highest decrease in this figure, which means that the figure for our country is below the European average. In France, 7.6% of young people aged between 18 and 24 left their initial studies without a qualification or with only the National Diploma (brevet) and are not involved in any continuing education. Between 2014 and 2018, this percentage remained stable on average, under the combined impact of a decrease for young women and an increase for young men which offset one another. The declining trend in 2019 continued in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, the slight drop applied to both women (-0.1 points) and men (-0.4 points). Men therefore remained proportionally the most likely to withdraw from initial studies without a qualification. In 2022, the rate of early leavers was 9.2% for young men versus 6.0% for young women.

On a national level, 12,500 French schools, high schools and colleges currently have the E3D label (Schools implementing the Education for Sustainable Development approach) according to the last annual report issued in October 2023. The action plan put forward by the Ministry of National Education and Youth, “measures for the ecological transition at school”, was published in June 2023 and set the goal of reaching 20,000 certifications by the end of 2025, and 100% by the end of 2030. This is about leading a cross-cutting approach at establishment level by establishing continuity between teaching methods, educational actions and projects, school life, management and maintenance of the school premises (water and energy consumption, waste collection, the fight against food waste, etc.), while remaining outward looking, particularly with regards the local area and players, via partnerships.

According to the Adult Education Survey (AES) carried out in 2016, in mainland France, 51% of people aged 18-64 who have left initial education participated in at least one formal or non-formal education or training programme in the previous 12 months. Few of them (2%) took part in formal education resulting in a degree or recognized qualification. This primarily concerns young adults returning to their studies after an interruption of more than a year. The annual rate of access to informal training is substantially higher: 50% for all purposes combined, and 39% for non-formal vocational training.

In 2020, 30 billion cubic meters were withdrawn in France for major uses (production of drinking water, industrial use, agriculture, supplying navigation channels and cooling power plants; excluding water used to run hydroelectric dams). The volume of withdrawals in France fell between 2016 and 2021.

According to the last report from the data observatory on public provision of water supply and sanitation services. The yield of drinking water networks demonstrated a steady increase between 2016 and 2021. The average yield of drinking water distribution networks is estimated at close to 80%. Leaks represent around 20%: for every 5 litres in the distribution network, 1 litre of water is lost into the natural environment without passing via the consumer.

On the rise, this indicator measures the percentage of local public utilities providing drinking water that have advisory committees, among those with a legal obligation to do so. In France, the proportion of local administrations that have put policies in place to encourage the participation of the local community in water management, among those legally required to do so, has increased. France is on track in this area.

There was a 3.1% decrease in the energy intensity of the French economy in 2022. The final energy consumption, climate corrected, went back down (-0.7% in 2022) after a post-pandemic upsurge (+4% in 2021), while economic activity continued to grow (+ 6.4% in 2021, +2.5% in 2022). Over the long term, an almost continuous downward trend has been observed in energy intensity for 20 years, at an average annual pace of -1.6%. This overall decline can be explained by improved efficiency across all consumer sectors. Final energy intensity was 675.4 MWh/million euros in 2022 versus 789.4 MWh/million euros in 2013.

This concerned 10.2% of the population in 2022, versus 6% in 2021. The energy price index has risen significantly due to the economic and geopolitical context and reached 153.8 in November 2022 (index base 100 in 2015). The fight against energy poverty in France is driven by two main approaches: addressing the causes by focusing on consumption, in particular through improving the energy efficiency of housing; and offering assistance to help low-income households pay their energy bills, such as the energy cheque.

On average for 2022, 1.3 million people were under-employed, representing 4.6% of the total labour force. Underemployment includes people working part-time but who wish to work more, are available to work more and are either job seekers or not, as well as people who have been put on furlough. In 2020, the number of people working part-time skyrocketed due to the pandemic, and underemployment reached a record level of 9.5%.

In 2021 in France, 12.8% of young people aged 15 to 29 were neither in employment, nor in education or training. This represents 1.4 million individuals. This follows a peak due to Covid (15.6% in the second quarter of 2020). Between the ages of 15 and 24, young men are more often NEET (neither in employment, nor in education or training) than young women (11.4% versus 9.7%). Young men leave their studies earlier, and some are in employment, but most are unemployed. In 2022, one out of ten young men was neither in employment, nor in education or training.

In 2019, 33.7% of wage-earners reported to be suffering from the constraints of work intensity (pace of work, time pressure). In 2022, a steady rise in pressures in the labour market was observed, reaching the highest level since 2011, especially in the sectors of industry, construction, IT, telecommunications and for nurses. The pandemic continues to have an effect, especially in the hospitality industry, and also for security officers, cashiers and some professions in the transport industry. In some sectors, pressures are even greater than those prior to the pandemic. This is the case for some healthcare professions such as caregivers, nurses and midwives. On the contrary, pressures have reduced for bank and insurance executives.

The proportion of adults with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider was significantly high in 2021, at 99%. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated financial inclusion, with a sharp increase in digital payments, as formal financial services expanded worldwide. In 2020, the measures introduced to contain the pandemic (lockdowns, curfews, social distancing) accelerated digitisation in society, with an unprecedented upsurge in home-based digital practices.

In 2022, 68.1% of people aged between 15 and 64 were employed. This employment rate was up by 0.9 points on average for the year. Wage-earners remain in the majority, especially with regards to long-term employment contracts. In 2022, 72.4% of people in employment either had a long-term contract or were civil servants. In 2022, executives represented 21.7% of people in employment, a 0.2-point increase versus 2021. On average in 2022, according to the Labour Force Survey, the active population of France excluding Mayotte accounted for 30.6 million people. The labour force participation rate for the 15-64 age range stood at 73.6%. This was up by 0.5 points, after an increase of 1.1 points in 2021.

In 2019, 783,600 work-related accidents that led to at least one day of absence were recorded in France for workers affiliated with the general social security scheme or the agricultural social security scheme, as well as the civil service of local governments and public hospitals. This represents 20.4 accidents per million hours of paid employment. 39,650 work-related accidents gave rise to a recognised permanent disability and there were 790 deaths.

There was a 7.5-point drop in the share of subsidised employment for young people between 2020 and 2022, reaching 32.2% in 2020. France invests in non-apprenticeship dual learning programmes, subsidized employment contracts in the commercial sector and the non-commercial sector.

On average for the year 2022, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 2.6% (after +6.8% in 2021 and -7.9% in 2020). GDP growth was supported by steady demand and recovery of the service sector, even though economic activity slowed in the second half of the year. As such, net job creation has remained high and the level of unemployment dropped to a historically low level for France (7.3% in 2022). Gross disposable income for households accelerated in constant euros, less so than the consumer price, and as a result, the average purchasing power (per consumption unit) decreased slightly (-0.3% after +2.1%).

According to the Banque de France, in 2024, the majority of businesses have noted a stabilisation or even a drop in the cost of credit. Credit applications from small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have been steady for the past months, and there has been a decrease in investment loans for Intermediate-Sized Enterprises (ISE). The approval rate for credit applications remains high for SMEs and ISEs, particularly with regards to investment loans. The approval rates for these loan requests are very high for SMEs and ISEs: 98% of SMEs and 96% of ISEs who requested a loan had either all or more than 75% of the amount approved.

For the period 1990-2022, there was a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions excluding land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) across France. This decrease was due to the reduction of emissions in industry. They have almost halved since 1990: -43% for the energy sector and -48% for the manufacturing sector. The residential/tertiary sector has also greatly reduced its emissions since 1990 (-31%). Agriculture also reduced its emissions by 13% for the same period. Only the transport sector has seen an increase in emissions since 1990 (+5%). The global drop in emissions was accompanied by a reduction in the quantity of GHG emissions per added value unit (-50.7% between 1990 and 2021). To reach the 2030 goal of 50% less gross GHG emissions versus 1990 (270 Mt CO2eq), we will need to double the pace of the annual reduction (4.1%).

In 2023, the Inter-Ministerial Mission for Research and Higher Education (MIRES) mobilised €16.5 billion in budget appropriations for research, €15.4 billion of which is distributed across socio-economic goals. 51% of these allocated appropriations are devoted to fundamental research. More than half of allocated budget appropriations for research are devoted to life sciences, natural sciences, space and social sciences and humanities.

In 2021, gross domestic expenditure on research and experimental development (GERD) stood at 55.5 billion euros (€), up 3.7% in volume versus 2020. This increase in GERD is due to the rise in expenditure on research and experimental development (R&D) for companies (+3.8%) and administrations (+3.6%). R&D in companies and administrations involves 496,300 people in full-time equivalent positions. The national research intensity, which is the GERD as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was 2.22% in 2021 and 2.18% in 2022.

In 2021, 671,500 people played a role in R&D in France. This corresponds to 496,250 people in full-time equivalent research roles. Researchers account for 67% of research personnel, in full-time equivalent. These numbers rose 3.9% over one year. The number of support staff, in full-time equivalent, rose by 6.3% versus 2020. In 2021, companies employed 205,900 researchers in full-time equivalent positions. This number rose by 3.9% versus 2020. In administrations, the number of researchers went up 3.9% versus 2020 and reached 127,900 full-time equivalent positions.

There was a slight increase in the number of people with broadband internet at home (men and women), from 85.8% to 87.5%. The total number of broadband and superfast broadband internet subscriptions reached 32.1 million at the end of the second half of 2023. The growth of these subscriptions is slowing: +65,000 subscriptions in the second half of 2023, versus +120,000 in the second half of 2022. On an annual basis, this growth represents +1.1% versus +2.3% the previous year. The France Très Haut Débit plan for broadband development, launched in 2013, will be continued and strengthened until 2025, and this indicator should therefore continue its upward trend.

In 2023, 86.6% of people aged 15 and over and living in France had used the Internet in the preceding three months, versus 65% in 2009. Almost all people aged 60 and under are Internet users: 98% of people aged 15 to 29 and 30 to 44, and 94% of people aged 45 to 59 had used the Internet during the preceding three months. However, 81% of people aged between 60 and 74 had used the Internet during the three preceding months, but this applied to only 42% of the over 75s.

In 2016, over 5 million people, or 8.2% of the population excluding Mayotte, were living in overcrowded housing, i.e. in a household of two or more living in a dwelling with an insufficient number of rooms for the size of their household. This situation affects 3.2% of the population living in houses and 16.5% of those living in an apartment. The classification of public administration spending per function showed that €54.6 billion was mobilised for housing and public facilities in 2022 (2.1% of GDP), including €31.9 billion for housing (1.2% of GDP), €22.1 billion of which was for social services and €9.8 billion for building subsidies (including tax credits [1]) and operating expenses for administrations.

Over the past decade, 24,000 ha of natural, agricultural and forest areas have been consumed annually on average in France. This issue concerns the whole of France, but predominantly in sparsely populated areas where 61% of land has been consumed. This has ecological (erosion of biodiversity, worsening of waterflow risk, limitation of carbon storage) and socio-economic (cost of public facilities, increased travel time and energy bill for households, degradation of abandoned land, reduction in the potential of agricultural production, etc.) consequences. The phenomenon is highly concentrated: 5% of communes account for 38% of land consumption. 61.6% of land consumption is in areas with low demand for property. Rural communes accounted for 65.4% of land consumption between 2013 and 2019, for 21.8% new inhabitants and 29.7% new households.

Environmentally friendly activities involve the companies, administrations and associations committed to protecting the environment and natural resources. They still hold a fairly small share of all French economic activities: 2.2% of added value and 2.4% of total employment. Organic farming and energy control activities (energy renovation of buildings, installation of condensing boilers, manufacture of energy-efficient facilities, etc.) are the environmental sectors that create the most employment (128,350 and 95,750 full-time equivalent positions in 2020). Waste management (91,250 full-time equivalent positions), renewable energies (89,750 full-time equivalent positions) and wastewater management (54,350 full-time equivalent positions) also require a significant workforce. These five fields alone account for 72% of employment in environmentally friendly activities (more than 640,000 full-time equivalent positions in 2020).

The 2020 data for waste was established as part of the compulsory reporting of the levels of food waste imposed by the European Commission, the methodology and communication format of which are set according to two decisions from the Commission (delegated decision 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019 supplementing directive 2008/98/EC and implementing decision 2019/2000 of 28 November 2019). The scope of what is considered to be food waste differs between the FAO and the EU. Within the European Union, food waste excludes harvest waste and food items reused as animal feed and includes non-edible food waste (such as bones and peelings).

According to SYNAPSE, the national network of players in regional industrial ecology (ITE), there were 152 active industrial and territorial ecology initiatives in August 2020, of which two thirds had been launched during the preceding three years. All regions are now implementing at least one initiative of this kind. This approach can involve two types of synergies:
• pooling synergies, in order to rationalize the use of resources, such as equipment (sharing between multiple companies to encourage use rather than ownership), services and transport (waste management, ridesharing, security, etc.), joint procurement and training.
• substitution synergies, allowing the by-products of one company to be used as inputs for another through the exchange of flows, including water and heat (reuse of wastewater, heat recovery, etc.), energy (biogas reinjection, local electricity self-consumption) and waste (recovery of by-products and effluents).

More than 12,000 communes are covered by a natural risks prevention plan, and almost 10,900 of these are covered by a flooding prevention plan (excluding marine submersion). Of the 240,000 natural disasters recorded over the period 1982-2023, close to 56% of them occurred due to flooding, 35% were related to land movements (including drought orders) and 8% due to atmospheric phenomena.

Flooding represents just over half the compensation paid as a result of natural disasters, ahead of drought (37%). The French believe flooding to be the most worrying natural risk. Of the €49.9 billion in compensation paid between 1982 and 2022, flooding alone caused €24.8 billion in insured losses (50%), with an average annual cost of €604 million.

Every year on average between 2001 and 2021, there were four very serious natural events, versus only one between 1950 and 2000. The 149 events recorded for the period caused more than 10 fatalities or over €30 million in material damages. Around two-thirds of these events were related to flooding.

There are many kinds of marine pollution (oil slick, chemical pollution, sound pollution, marine waste, etc.), and this can be voluntary (illegal dumping) or accidental (collisions, damage, shipwrecks, loss of containers during storms, etc.). Of the confirmed POLREP (pollution reports), the majority (63%) concerned hydrocarbon pollution (illegal dumping, damage, collision, accidents at sea or in an estuary - refinery/vessel). This is mainly found on the maritime traffic routes across the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean, to the east of Corsica and along the Mediterranean coast.

In February 2017, France drew up a national strategy for the sea and coast (SNML) setting out long-term goals in this area. By the end of 2022, sea basin strategy documents had been adopted by all of the four mainland coastal areas (North Sea, English Channel, Atlantic and Mediterranean), whereas none had been in 2016. In the overseas territories, strategy documents had been adopted for two sea basins (Southern Indian Ocean, West Indies basin).

France is present in all oceans except the Arctic, and so boasts the second biggest maritime surface area in the world. Nearly 10 % of the world’s marine species diversity can be found in the overseas territories. 67% of the overseas coral reefs are currently covered by a marine protected area. France has committed to protecting all these coral reefs by 2025. In 2022, marine protected areas (MPA) in French territory accounted for 33.4% of total French marine areas. 44.8% in mainland France and 32.9% in overseas France. This shows major progress, as the percentage of total French marine areas was only 3.8% in 2013.

The presence of waste in the marine environment can cause direct fatalities and has indirect impacts on marine life. To assess the trend in the quantities and composition of waste ingested by animals, in the absence of an ubiquist species, the northern fulmar is used as an indicator in the English Channel - North Sea. The OSPAR Convention involved assessments across the whole of the English Channel, and this indicator demonstrated an increase in northern fulmars found dead with more than 0.1 g of plastic debris in their stomachs, even though the quantities of plastic ingested dropped significantly over the period 2009-2018. In the English Channel-North Sea marine subregion, 68% of northern fulmars analysed over the 2015-2019 period were found to have over 0.1 g of plastic debris in their stomachs.

According to the forest inventory, forest cover in the 8 French national parks accounted for 5,576 km² in 2018, or a forest cover rate of 45% (charter and territories study perimeter). This percentage is higher than for mainland France (31% for 168,000 km² of forests). It is high in the Cévennes National Park (70% of the charter study perimeter). For the core perimeters, the Forêts National Park is almost entirely covered by forest area, with a forest cover rate of 95%. The Vanoise National Park, a high-mountain territory, has a low level of forest cover, with 18% of the charter study perimeter.

Ecosystems with minimal human impact account for 53.3% of national territory. Land take in mainland France has increased 1.4% per year between 2006 and 2015. This is the equivalent of a department the size of the Drôme every ten years.
40% of the surface area of French towns with a population of more than 200,000 is nature.