The 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics cost the French state just under 6 billion euros ($6.9 billion), according to an initial estimate released Monday by the national audit body.
Breakdown of Costs
The French government spent 2.77 billion euros on the organization of both events. This figure includes 1.4 billion euros specifically for security measures. An additional 3.19 billion euros were invested in infrastructure projects related to the Games.
More than 35,000 security personnel were deployed, with 315 million euros in bonuses paid to the police as part of the security budget.
Games Overview and Success
The Olympics ran from July 26 to August 11, 2024, followed by the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8, 2024. Organizers effectively utilized Paris’s historic sites as venues or scenic backdrops, and the Games were widely celebrated as a significant success.
Public and Economic Impact
While the audit body noted a lack of concrete data to assess the full economic impact, both positive and negative, it stated that the Games were “indisputably a success with the public and the media.”
The audit body’s findings will be particularly scrutinized as France prepares to host the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
Comparison to Previous Estimates and Games
This is the first time official figures for France’s direct state spending have been announced. Previously, Pierre Moscovici, president of the national audit body, had estimated the cost to the state at “three, maybe four, five billion euros” in 2024. After the recent release of the figures, Moscovici, a former French finance minister, stated there was “really nothing to argue about.”
Until now, only the 4.4 billion-euro cost of the local organizing committee (COJO) had been made public. That committee operated with a 76 million euro surplus and was funded almost entirely through private financing, alongside contributions from Solideo, the publicly-partially-funded body responsible for Olympic construction.
Moscovici also highlighted that the public spending for the Paris Games “seems to be more limited than for London 2012,” to which the Paris Games are often compared due to their similar geographical settings. A more comprehensive report on the legacy of the Games is expected in 2026.
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