Economy. The Paris Olympics cost 6 billion euros in public spending.

The Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games cost nearly €6 billion in public spending, the Court of Auditors announced Monday in "an initial estimate." The Court estimated "organizational expenses at €2.77 billion," including €1.4 billion for security, and "infrastructure expenses at €3.19 billion."

"This initial estimate is of particular interest in the context of the preparations for the 2030 Winter Olympics," which will be held in the French Alps, the institution commented. No estimate of the public cost of the Olympics had been made until now. In March 2024, the First President, Pierre Moscovici , had suggested on France Inter that they could cost "between three, four, five billion."

Until now, only the accounts of the Organising Committee (Cojo) at 4.4 billion in expenses (76 million euros surplus) relying almost entirely on private funding and those of Solideo (Société des livraison des travaux olympiques) including a public share, were known. "This initial estimate takes on greater significance in the context of the preparations for the 2030 Winter Olympics" which will be held in the French Alps, commented the institution.

The public bill is a real headache to calculate, to track over several years, and with scopes to define. Should we include the additional anti-drone equipment purchased before the Olympics that will also be used afterward? The Court of Auditors says yes. A more detailed report will be published by October because some expenditures are not yet fully known, such as those of local authorities and certain tax expenditures.

Similarly, due to "the unavailability of data," it did not include "the positive and negative effects of the Games on economic activity," which it also describes as "an undeniable popular and media success." Another report on "legacy" will be published in 2026. Among the largest public expenditures: those related to security, with a large number of law enforcement officers mobilized in a context of terrorist risk, which represented 1.4 billion euros (including bonuses of nearly 315 million euros for the police and gendarmerie).

Given the shortage of private security guards, the government has also invested €78 million to train new personnel. This is followed by spending on transport and mobility: €570 million, including €335 million for "service reinforcements" from RATP and SNCF. Regarding infrastructure, as of March 2025, the government and local authorities' share of Solideo is €1.65 billion.

There is some uncertainty regarding the Seine's swimmability, which has generated €1.4 billion in public investment, but some of it can be attributed to European obligations. At this stage, the Court of Auditors estimates the costs of making the Seine swimmable attributable to the Games at "between €200 million and €1 billion." Given "this uncertainty," these costs are not included in this initial assessment.

The organizing committee for the Olympic Games, which will close on June 30, believes that the Court has cast its net too broadly, with a "bias" that risks "creating a perception bias." "A figure that is disproportionate to reality," its financial director Fabrice Lacroix told a few journalists, estimating the public bill at "around two billion euros."

In his response to the Court of Auditors, Cojo President Tony Estanguet regrets that "the positive economic impact of the Games" is not being taken into account. "The rushed publication of this document will unfortunately introduce confusion into the public mind about the reality of this major event, which showcased the best of our country just a year ago," the letter continues.