The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are expected to cost between 3 and 5 billion euros of public money

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: Credit MUSTAFA YALCIN / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu via AFP 12:53 p.m., March 26, 2024

Will the Paris Olympic Games be among the cheapest in history? Since France submitted its application in 2017, many players in French public life have tried to answer this question. “We do not yet know the true cost of the Olympics,” declared Pierre Moscovici during an interview with France Inter, “the Court of Auditors will audit it after the Olympics.”

“These Games should cost between 3, 4, 5 billion, we will see, but that is not what will have an absolutely massive impact” on the debt, he clarified.

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A “moderate” impact on debt

When asked by a listener about the impact of the 2024 Olympics on the debt, Pierre Moscovici replied that it would be “moderate”. Until now, Pierre Moscovici mentioned the figure of 3 billion euros of public money for the Olympics. In 2023, the budget documents reported public investments of 2.44 billion euros (including 1.3 billion for the State and 260 million for the city of Paris).

But, overall, the public bill is not possible, because all the costs are not known. Recently, for example, bonuses of 1,900 euros given to police officers were added, which could increase the public bill by 500 million euros. Currently, the provisional bill for the Olympics - public and private money mixed - is around 9 billion euros. 

The organizing committee for the Olympic Games (Cojo) has a budget of 4.4 billion euros made up of 96% private money, to which is added the budget of Solideo, responsible for building the permanent structures, approximately 4, 4 billion euros also including 1.7 billion of public money. 

A sign that times are tough to close the budget four months right before the Olympics, Cojo recently approached the Ile-de-France region to ask if it could financially support the travel of 200,000 accredited people (athletes, officials, journalists). ...), i.e. a budget of just under 10 million euros. The Cojo can "optimize" its revenues, having "still sponsors to go to work" and "places to sell", estimated Valérie Pécresse, questioned on this subject on Tuesday by AFP.