Doing business is cheaper in France than US

PARIS, March 10 (AFP) – Canada, Australia and Britain are the industrialised countries where it is cheapest to do business, followed by Italy, France, Luxembourg and the United States, a study by consulting firm KPMG revealed Wednesday.

The study measured business costs according to prices of labour and services as well as tax levels in 100 cities in 11 industrialised countries.

The study stressed the importance of exchange rates, which would currently favour the United States since the dollar in recent months has weakened sharply – notably against the euro.

Japan, Canada and Britain have also benefitted of late because of the depreciation of their currencies against the euro.

Canada, Australia, Britain, Italy, France and Luxembourg are all cheaper for business operations than the United States, the study found.

Countries that are more expensive than the United States are Iceland, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan.

Japan, according to the survey, is 23.8 percent more expensive than the United States for doing business.

The following table shows by how much each country is cheaper or more expensive than the United States for business operations.

Canada: -9.0 percent
Australia: -8.5 percent
Britain: -2.4 percent
Italy: -1.3 percent
France: -0.9 percent
Luxembourg: -0.9 percent
United States
Iceland: +3.3 percent
Netherlands: +4.0 percent
Germany: +13.9 percent
Japan: +23.8 percent.

© AFP

                                                              Subject: France news