France vs Monaco
France is ahead on money & crypto. Monaco is ahead on taxes, legalization. Full criterion-by-criterion data below.
VerifiedUpdated
Scoreboard
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Monaco leads on 2 of 6
France
0
Monaco
2
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
Verdict
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Monaco fits better — 2 of 5
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.
La Poste Monaco — post offices and parcel services
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Classified from La Poste Monaco's own pages, read on 2026-10-02: seven post offices (Monte-Carlo, Condamine, Fontvieille, Moulins, Monaco-Ville, Herculis, Grimaldi Forum) and a multi-parcel platform in Jardin Exotique, all within the 2 km² of the Principality; Colissimo home delivery with or without signature at D+2 across France, and Chronopost express. Monaco's postal service is provided by France, and the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 governs postal relations (La Poste Monaco's own history page). No source for parcel lockers in Monaco was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
A close call for this plan
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
A close call for this plan
impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2022
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed. Act 1.528 (Journal de Monaco, 22 July 2022) lists the services on digital assets and crypto-assets — exchange, trading platforms, issuance, custody, order execution, advice — and makes their provision in Monaco subject to prior approval by the Minister of State after a consultative commission, or to authorisation by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières for services on financial tokens. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets. There is no tax on an individual's gains because residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals excepted.
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 1, 2015
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Composite of three inputs, each read at its source on 2026-10-02. (1) The European Commission's page (last updated 9 January 2026) lists Monaco among the high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering regimes, in force from 5 August 2025 and still listed after the December 2025 amendments (Delegated Regulations 2026/46 and 2026/83); EU banks and other gatekeepers must apply enhanced checks to business relationships and transactions involving such countries (Article 18a of Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive 2018/843). (2) Monaco's own cash rule is loose: professionals may not make or receive cash payments of €30,000 or more for goods or services, with customer due diligence from €10,000 (Act 1.362, art. 35, as replaced by Act 1.503 of 23 December 2020). (3) A residence permit for anyone not living on a salary or business income needs a reference from a Monaco bank attesting sufficient funds. The euro is Monaco's currency. The listing is what lifts the level: every relationship between a Monaco resident or company and an EU bank now carries enhanced due diligence → 'moderate'.
- Notes
- The listing is a consequence of the FATF's increased-monitoring process and should lift when that ends; re-check after each FATF plenary and EU amendment. It does not restrict a resident's own transfers, but it slows account opening and payments with EU institutions.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
A close call for this plan
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
Details
Taxes
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileFrance34.1Monacostronger14.7
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
France
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
Monaco
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Legalization
01+−Remote-work legalization easeFranceLong stay pathMonacostrongerFreelance permit
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
France
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- France has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur) forbids any professional activity, so it does not fit an actively-earning remote worker. Non-EU self-employed freelancers use the 'entrepreneur/profession libérale' long-stay visa or the Passeport Talent (for qualifying founders/investors/highly-skilled). EU/EEA/Swiss citizens work and freelance freely with no permit. Classified 'long-stay-path'.
Monaco
MonEntreprise.mc — How to set up a business as a sole trader (business permit for foreign nationals)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Monaco has no digital-nomad visa. A foreign national may apply for a sole-trader business permit for any activity, an advisory one included, and register it at home; the Business Development Agency's admissibility receipt then opens a residence permit. The permit is discretionary and comes with the residence conditions — housing in Monaco, a Monaco bank's reference of sufficient means, and for non-EEA nationals a French type D long-stay visa — which are what most applicants cannot meet. Classified 'freelance-permit'.
Cost of living
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentFrance1,816Monacono verified data
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
France
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
Monaco
No official measure exists. Monaco runs no household budget survey and has no consumer price index of its own — its statistics office republishes INSEE's index for France as the reference — and no Monaco retailer publishes shelf prices online from which a basket could be priced. Monaco shares France's VAT, excise duties and customs territory, but France's spending figure describes French households, and using it here would present a French number as a Monaco one.
Monthly spending by category (excl. rent)
INSEE — La consommation des ménages en 2024 (Insee Première 2056, COICOP functional breakdown)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Each INSEE 2024 COICOP function (€B/yr) → per-capita USD/mo by ÷ 31.377M households ÷ 2.14 ÷ 12 then ×1.030 CPI uplift ×1.1399 FX. Housing (04) shown net of rent (actual + imputed rents excluded). Items sum ≈ $1,814 ≈ the $1,816 headline. Health is households' out-of-pocket/non-reimbursed only — France's universal Assurance Maladie plus near-universal mutuelles cover most care, so this line is structurally low.
IMSEE — Monaco en Chiffres 2026 (no household budget survey published)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- No category breakdown can be built for the same reasons as cost-of-living-single: no household budget survey, no national price index and no published retail prices.
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Population-weighted mean of the rent-breakdown matrices of Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris; each cell averages the cities that report it. See each city page for its exact local matrix.
Safety
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearFrance1.3Monacono verified data
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
France
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
Monaco
No current figure. UNODC's file, read on 2026-10-02, holds Monaco victim counts for 2007 and 2008 only, both zero, and conviction counts to 2015; the World Bank series it feeds has a single value, for 2001. Monaco's own statistics (Monaco en Chiffres 2026) publish the police's total of recorded offences — 888 in 2024 and 1,055 in 2025, the latter on a new recording tool and not comparable — but no homicide count. With some 38,900 residents a single case would move the rate by 2.6 per 100,000, so an old zero would read as a precise result it is not.
Healthcare
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldFrance821Monacono verified data
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
France
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
Monaco
Not priced. No insurer publishes a Monaco rate card for a comprehensive private policy, and the price is quote-only. For the self-employed the compulsory public cover is CAMTI, a flat €1,101 a quarter (€4,404 a year) in 2025-2026.
Money & crypto
01+−Crypto regulationFranceLegal regulatedMonacoLegal regulated
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
France
impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.
Monaco
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2022
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed. Act 1.528 (Journal de Monaco, 22 July 2022) lists the services on digital assets and crypto-assets — exchange, trading platforms, issuance, custody, order execution, advice — and makes their provision in Monaco subject to prior approval by the Minister of State after a consultative commission, or to authorisation by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières for services on financial tokens. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets. There is no tax on an individual's gains because residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals excepted.
02+−Financial control levelFrancestrongerLowMonacoModerate
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
France
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 1, 2015
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.
Monaco
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Composite of three inputs, each read at its source on 2026-10-02. (1) The European Commission's page (last updated 9 January 2026) lists Monaco among the high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering regimes, in force from 5 August 2025 and still listed after the December 2025 amendments (Delegated Regulations 2026/46 and 2026/83); EU banks and other gatekeepers must apply enhanced checks to business relationships and transactions involving such countries (Article 18a of Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive 2018/843). (2) Monaco's own cash rule is loose: professionals may not make or receive cash payments of €30,000 or more for goods or services, with customer due diligence from €10,000 (Act 1.362, art. 35, as replaced by Act 1.503 of 23 December 2020). (3) A residence permit for anyone not living on a salary or business income needs a reference from a Monaco bank attesting sufficient funds. The euro is Monaco's currency. The listing is what lifts the level: every relationship between a Monaco resident or company and an EU bank now carries enhanced due diligence → 'moderate'.
- Notes
- The listing is a consequence of the FATF's increased-monitoring process and should lift when that ends; re-check after each FATF plenary and EU amendment. It does not restrict a resident's own transfers, but it slows account opening and payments with EU institutions.
Infrastructure
01+−Domestic delivery qualityFrancestrongerExcellentMonacoGood
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
France
La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.
Monaco
La Poste Monaco — post offices and parcel services
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Classified from La Poste Monaco's own pages, read on 2026-10-02: seven post offices (Monte-Carlo, Condamine, Fontvieille, Moulins, Monaco-Ville, Herculis, Grimaldi Forum) and a multi-parcel platform in Jardin Exotique, all within the 2 km² of the Principality; Colissimo home delivery with or without signature at D+2 across France, and Chronopost express. Monaco's postal service is provided by France, and the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 governs postal relations (La Poste Monaco's own history page). No source for parcel lockers in Monaco was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
02+−International delivery easeFranceMinor frictionMonacoMinor friction
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
France
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market — most European cross-border parcels arrive like domestic ones). For non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and from 1 July 2026 applies a temporary flat customs duty per item on ≤€150 consignments (VAT already collected at checkout via IOSS since 2021). Predictable but no longer duty-free — the same EU regime as other member states.
Monaco
MonEntreprise.mc — Tax in Monaco (customs union with France; Monaco inside the EU customs territory)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Monaco and France form a customs union under the Customs Convention of 18 May 1963, the French Customs Code applies in Monaco, and Monaco is part of the EU customs territory although it is not an EU member, so goods arrive on EU terms. Parcels from the EU single market arrive like domestic ones; for non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and since 1 July 2026 charges a temporary flat customs duty per item on consignments up to €150, collected through La Poste for postal items.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadFrance51.4Monacostronger84
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
France
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Monaco
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
Language
01+−English proficiencyFranceModerateMonacono verified data
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
France
EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
Monaco
Not banded. EF does not rank Monaco, and French is the only official language. With three-quarters of residents foreign — the British are the third-largest community after the French and Italians — English is widely heard, but no measurement supports a band, so none is given.
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