Press release – France’s digital market: 2024 results and outlook for 2025

Between uncertainty and caution: the digital market in the face of political and economic turbulence

The French digital sector, a key driver of the national economy, is facing a period of transition marked by economic and political uncertainties. Following growth of +6.5% in 2023, Numeum has revised its growth forecast to +3.5% for 2024, with contrasting trends across market segments.

Although all business lines reported higher sales, service activities were particularly hard hit by the slowdown in growth:

• Estimated growth in 2024 for software publishers and cloud platforms: +8.2%.
• Estimated growth in 2024 for digital services companies (ESN): +0.7%.
• Estimated growth in 2024 for technology consulting (ICT): +1%.

The size of the digital market is thus estimated at 69.4 billion euros: 39% of the market for software publishers and cloud platforms with sales of 26.8 billion euros, 50% of the market for NSEs with sales of 34.5 billion euros, and 11% for Engineering and Technology Consulting with sales of 7.9 billion euros.

The year 2024 has seen the emergence of a climate of political and economic instability, weighing on companies’ ability to anticipate and plan their investments. This unpredictability has a direct impact on the vision of economic trends for the coming year, which is not a good sign for our economy’s lagging productivity and competitiveness. Against this backdrop, Numeum and PAC urge caution, forecasting growth of +4.1% for the digital market in 2025, with no significant rebound in the short term.

The main levers driving growth in this uncertain climate

Five major trends continue to drive the economy and the digital sector in France, acting as growth engines. These key levers are reshaping the market in a complex environment.

• Cloud (a market worth 20.1 billion euros, with +27% growth in 2024): vertical clouds, globalized collaboration, widespread use of containers, modernization and transformation of apps/infra…
• Security (a market worth 4.6 billion euros, with +11.9% growth in 2024): increased investment and outsourcing to counter the upsurge in risks, regulations and attacks…
• Big Data (a market worth 3.6 billion euros, with +15.7% growth in 2024): the collection and use of data are becoming essential to drive business models, develop new services, optimize operations…
• AI services(a 1.8 billion euro market with +5% growth in 2024): the subject is not new, but new technologies are making it possible to democratize and accelerate it.
• Responsible digital services (a 0.9 billion euro market with +27% growth in 2024): many companies, organizations and governments have made commitments in this area. Digital will be central to achieving these goals.

Generative AI: revolutionary potential hampered by obstacles to be overcome

Generative AI saw accelerated adoption in 2024, with significant business impacts: 76% of publishers and platforms say they have already implemented or plan to use generative AI for their offerings and solutions.This technology has enabled notable productivity gains: almost half of companies (47%) that have adopted generative AI report productivity improvements of 5% to 10%, while 26% expect increases of 11% to 22%.

Nevertheless, while generative AI is establishing itself as a driver of innovation and efficiency, its adoption is coming up against a number of obstacles. 41% of companies are struggling to quantify the benefits of its use, 39% are having trouble finding high-value use cases, and 35% are facing a shortage of qualified generative AI talent. In addition, the issue of regulation, particularly with the IA Act, represents a major challenge: 45% of companies say they have limited or no knowledge on this subject.

Software publishers need to transform their solutions so that they offer autonomous AI agents, i.e. agents capable of orchestrating complex services in real time. This requires substantial investment in research and development, which must be supported by innovation incentives.

Digital responsibility: a strategic lever that is still under-exploited

Today, digital responsibility appears to be an essential strategic lever for reconciling the environmental and digital transitions. However, the survey highlights a certain lag in the adoption of responsible practices within companies. In fact, almost half of them (48%) have never carried out a carbon audit, and 34% say they don’t know whether they are covered by the CRSD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

At the same time, 50% of companies have no CSR label or certification, and this figure rises to 65% for digital trust. This situation highlights the urgent need to support companies in their transition to a more responsible digital environment.

Slowdown in recruitment: a key indicator of decelerating growth

The sector saw a marked slowdown in recruitment in the second half of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year. Nearly 30% (a 3-fold increase on 2023) of companies say they have reduced their recruitment or not recruited at all. This downturn has a particular impact on profiles undergoing retraining, as well as young graduates, who are finding it more difficult to integrate into the job market.

There has been a paradigm shift: the sector’s^main growth barrier is no longer the ability to acquire new talent, but rather to identify business opportunities in the marketplace.