Olympics to provide €7-11bn boost for Paris region, says independent report

Officials open a footbridge connecting the Athletes Village to Paris 2024 venues. THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images

The University of Limoges’ Centre for Law and Economics of Sport (CDES) claims that the 2024 Olympic Games will generate a net economic gain of somewhere between €6.7 billion and €11.1 billion for the Paris region.

The Paris 2024 Organising Committee commissioned the independent study to model the overall economic impact of construction work, extra tourism and event organisation on the Île de France region from 2018-2034. The Paris Tourism Office expects up to three million tourists to visit Paris during the Games and spend around €2.6 billion.

In 2016, the CDES carried out a previous economic impact study in support of a Paris Games bid which estimated the economic gain at €5.3-10.7 billion. Three years ago, the Paris economy was estimated at €765 billion by the French national statistics agency.

The Olympic Village in Saint-Denis, pictured in February. IAN LANGSDON/AFP via Getty Images
The Olympic Village in Saint-Denis, pictured in February. IAN LANGSDON/AFP via Getty Images

At under €10 billion, the Games budget is set to be smaller than recent editions with at least €2.6 billion coming from public funds. In an intermediate scenario, each euro of public spending will lead to an around three euros of economic impact. Eighty percent of the public investment is in Seine-St-Denis, home to the Olympic Village which will be converted into 2,800 housing units and two new schools after the Games.

The economic gains of major sporting events are hard to measure with the study’s authors urging caution with regard to interpreting the results. In March, French central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that the Games’ impact would be more psychological than economic.



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