This page is one of the annex pages of www.understandfrance.org, the foremost site on Franco-American intercultural differences. It contains documents, facts and figures illustrating the content of some of its pages.	Facts & figures	This page contains Facts and Figures about France and the French. Some are significant, other less so.... France in Europe Image of France and the French	Table of contents
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France compared to European countries		Image of France and the French
Situation of French retirees as compared to other European countries. Age 60 to 62, according to year of birth, first after Sweden), Sweden 61, Greece 62 to 67 (for 40 years of cotisatioon), Finland 63+3mths,  UK, Switzerland  64 (women) or 65 (men), Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium  65, Spain between 65 and 65+6mths, Portugal 66+4mths, Germany 65+7mths, Ireland, Netherlands, 66, Italy 66+7mths Income as a % of the average income of active population : 103,4 first in Europe, Luxembourg 100,5, Spain 98,8, 97, Portugal 95, Ireland 89,2, Germany 88,5, Sweden 85,9, Finland 85,7, Netherlands 83,4, UK 82,6, Switzerland 82,4, Belgium 80,3, Denmark 79,5 Average pension : 1,322€ (women) or 1,760€ (men) Retirement with full pension (under condition of the number of years of cotisation) : age 62, Full pension (without these conditions) : 67, mandatory retirement : 70 (Source : DREES, CLEISS, OECD) Consumption of alcohol in European countries : a large comparative study published in The Lancet in 2018 gives the following results : Largest consumption (in average number of glasses of wine or equivalent-wine per day all ages included) for men : Rumania 8.2, Portugal 7.2, Luxembourg 7.2, Lithuania 7, Ukraine 7, Bosnia 6.5, Belarus 6, Estonia 6, Spain 5.8, Hungaria 5,3, ....., France 4.9 For women : Ukraine 4.2, Andorra 3.4, Luxembourg 3.4, Belarus 3.4, Sweden 3.1, Denmark 3.1, Ireland 3.1, UK 3, Germany 2.9, Switzerland 2.8, ....., France 2.6 The PISA comparative studies (OECD) compare every three years the level of students in 72 countries on more than half a million students. The ranking of France is just average and, for all criteria, France (like the USA and UK) reaches only the average level of OECD countries. In the 2016 study : reading : # 19 mathematics : # 26 science : # 26 The reason ? Inequality : France is the country where the difference between good students (educated parents, good schools in big cities) and mediocre students (parents who hardly speak Frenc, living in poor suburbs) is the largest. This is certainly one of the most important challenges of France in the field of Education. More on the study. Compared Competitiveness According to the World Economic Forum, compared competitiveness (2005 figures) of countries leads to the following ranking :  Finland # 1 USA # 2 Sweden # 3 ...  Japan # 12 UK # 13 Germany # 15 .... France # 30 (even worse than in 2004 : # 27) Belgium : # 31 ... Italy : # 47 China : # 49 The criteria include economic policies, regulatory environment, opinion of business leaders etc. The mediocre ranking of France has many good reasons and is largely deserved. One can only observe (once again) that criteria are not neutral : public expenses are taken into account only negatively, regardless of their social and economic profitability : they are considered a waste of resources. France is therefore penalized when investing in its fast trains (TGV) or nuclear power plants and would improve its ranking if not developping such public investments. More on rankings and read my editorial about it.. % Compared satisfaction of the national health systems (Source : Europ Assistance Poll, Le Figaro Sept.28, 2010) Q Fr. US UK Swed Italy Austria Poland Germ A1 15% 23% 34% 29% 10% 52% 3% 11% A2 46% 21% 36% 40% 30% 34% 17% 46% A3 32% 26% 20% 21% 36% 12% 44% 31% A4 6% 27% 10% 8% 24% 2% 36% 12% B 67% 46% 28% 50%       38% C 35% 70% 84%           Question A : How do you see the organization of the health system in your country ? A1 = excellent or very good,A2 = good, A3= bad ,A4 = very bad Question B : Do you think your country is where you can get the best treatment ? Question C : Do you fear medical errors ? Compared attractivity : Paris and other European cities. Number of new implantation of international headquarters in 2005 (Source : Ernst & Young Investment European Monitor 2006, in Le Parisien June 19, 2006) :  Paris  194  Madrid  47  Amsterdam  30  London  177  Frankfurt  40  Düsseldorf  24  Barcelona  64  Budapest  34  Milano  17  Moskow  57  Bruxelles  31  Genève  16  Stoscholm  55  Dublin  30  Berlin  13 Compared attitude toward America, European unity and Globalization : T.R.Reid has elaborated three ratios for the 25 countries. Back to "Europe"		Visions of the French : The 27 countries of Europe are very different, have different languages and a very different history and culture. Not surprisingly, they have a very stereotyped vision of one another. Recent polls illustrate how limited their mutual knowledge is and the kind of cliché that comes to their mind when asked the question " How would you describe the people of such and such European country ? ". Here are the results as summarized by Clodong and Lamarque :   How do other countries see the French :   How do the French see the other European people :   Dutch  restless, talkative, not serious    ecologists, laxist, open, progressive, libertarian, tall  English  chauvinistic, intransigent, cared for by the state, no sense of humour    insular, conceited, monarchist, anti - European, snob, independent, conservative, pragmatic  Germans  conceited, offhand, frivolous    rigorous, hard - workers, serious, disciplined, organized, legalist, formalist  Greeks  not very smart    messy, lazy, indolent, nonchalent  Italians  snobs, arrogant    glib talkers, pleasure seekers, friendly, family - oriented, bon vivant, womanizers, smooth -t alkers, machos, lady killers  Portuguese  lesson givers, haughty    hard - workers, courageous, Catholic, family - oriented, short   Spaniards  cold, distant, impolite, conceited    revellers, warm, traditional, modern, regionalist, noisy, religious, bon vivant   Swedes  disobedient, immoral, disorganized, neocolonialists, dirty    blond, tall, clean, organized, cold, Scandinavian, Nordic, Viking, ecologists  Austrians  The study does not give the vision of the French by the following people but only the vision the French have of them    rigorous, cold, nationalist, xenophobic, haughty, intolerant, clean  Belgians      friendly, francophile, divided, pro - European, warm, French - fry eaters  Cypriots      insular, rustic, divided  Czechs      cultured, poor, pro - European, culturally rich  Danish      cold, clean, blond, tall, artist, melancholic, hard - workers  Estonians      poor, pro - European, invaded, occupied  Finns      courageous, cold, rough, friendly, blond, tenacious, Nordic  Hungarians      warm, sad, intelligent, gypsy  Irish      reveller, courageous, traditionalist, warm, beer - drinkers  Latvians      ? (no image)  Lithuanians      pro - European, poor  Luxemburgers      rich, friendly, pro - European, discreet, wheeler - dealers  Maltese      warm, insular, organized, isolated  Polish      hard - workers, Catholic, courageous, alcoholics, resistants  Slovaks      open, poor, hard - workers  Slovenians      slavic, family - oriented, poor More intercultural

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Harriet Welty Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books: "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012 "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999 "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001 More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)

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