In recent years, most of the highly skilled French are the children of immigrants, leaving France to start new businesses abroad in cities such as London, New York, Montreal or Dubai. An online survey found that 71 percent of more than 1,000 people left France because of racism and religious discrimination.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the European Commission among about 26,000 people from 27 EU member states, 21 percent of participants reported that they had been discriminated against or insulted during the past year. Discrimination on the basis of skin color, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status is highest in the Netherlands, followed by discrimination on the basis of religion in France. In this regard, Sweden, Belgium and Cyprus are also in high places.