Paris 2024 Olympics: a bill of nearly 6 billion euros, according to the Court of Auditors

As June 23 marks Olympic Day around the world, the Court of Auditors has weighed in on this celebration of sport. The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games cost nearly €6 billion of public money, a large portion of which was dedicated to the security of this extraordinary event, the Court of Auditors announced this Monday in "an initial estimate."

This is more than the " 3, 4, 5 billion" of public spending put forward by the first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, in March 2024. He also specified that the true cost would only be known after the end of the Games.

The court estimated "organizational expenses at €2.77 billion," including €1.4 billion for security, and "infrastructure expenses at €3.19 billion." However, this is an initial estimate of public costs, combining numerous expenses from the state, local authorities, and public companies: bonuses for police officers, construction of the Olympic Village and the Olympic Aquatics Center in Saint-Denis, and the acceleration of work on metro line 14 in recent weeks to arrive on time near the Olympic Village.

Until now, only the accounts of the Organizing Committee (Cojo) were known – at 4.4 billion in expenditure and having generated a budget surplus of 76 million euros – which relied almost entirely on private funding, and those of the Olympic Works Delivery Company (Solideo), which included a public share. "This initial estimate takes on added significance in the context of the preparations for the 2030 Winter Olympics" which will be held in the French Alps, commented the institution on Rue Cambon.

The public bill is a real headache to calculate, to track over several years and with complex scopes to define. For example, should we include the additional anti-drone equipment purchased before the Olympics that will also be used afterwards? 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 but also 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". Games that she also describes as "an undeniable popular and media success." Another report on her "legacy" will be published in 2026.

Among the largest public expenditures: security-related expenditures, with a large number of law enforcement officers mobilized in a context of terrorist risk, representing €1.4 billion in expenditures, including €315 million in bonuses for the police and gendarmerie. Given the shortage of private security agents, the state also invested €78 million to train new personnel.

Next comes spending on transport and mobility: €570 million, including €335 million for "service enhancements" from RATP and SNCF. Regarding infrastructure, as of March 2025, the State 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, some of which 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 magistrates, however, regret " a strong reluctance on the part of program managers to budget for the Games in advance " and deplore the fact that the first estimates were only made after the vote on the 2024 finance law. " This lack of serious forecasting is one of the explanatory factors for the chaotic management of the budget allocated to the security of the Games in 2024 ," they consider.

The organizing committee for the Olympic Games, which will close on June 30, believes that the court cast its net too broadly, with a "bias" that risks "creating a perception bias." "A figure disproportionate to reality," its financial director, Fabrice Lacroix, told a few journalists, estimating the public bill at "more like 2 billion euros."

In his written response to the Court of Auditors, the president of the Cojo, Tony Estanguet, regrets that "the positive economic impact of the Games" is not 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 barely a year ago."