UNIMEV Releases the 2025 Event Data Book: The Events Industry by the Numbers
At its annual See You There congress, UNIMEV unveiled the 2025 edition of its Event Data Book, the reference benchmark for the French events industry covering 2024. The report also marks the industry's 100th anniversary.
An exceptional year driven by the Olympics
2024 was shaped by the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. French GDP grew +1.1% in volume (vs +0.9% in 2023), amid slowing inflation (+2% vs +4.9% in 2023). Tourism confirmed this momentum: France welcomed 100 million international visitors, generating €71 billion in international revenue (+12% vs 2023). Île-de-France alone drew 48.7 million tourists and €23.4 billion in tourism spending.
Events: the fastest-growing media channel
The Unified Advertising Market Barometer (Kantar, France Pub, IREP) confirms an exceptional year: €35.8 billion was spent on communication in 2024 (+5%), including 1.5 growth points directly attributable to the Olympics effect, mainly benefiting corporate communication.
Against this backdrop, French corporate spending on events — sponsorship, patronage, PR, trade shows and fairs — reached €5.5 billion, up +17.6% vs 2023. Events rank as the #1 growth channel across all media, even as digital continues to advance (€10.4 billion invested, +9%), gaining 9 points of market share since 2019 (from 20% to 29%).
2025 forecasts point to a return to normal, with the communication market expected at €35.9 billion (+0.5%), while other media including events are projected to decline -3.7% due to an unfavorable base effect after 2024's peak.
Key 2024 industry indicators
| Segment | Key figure |
|---|---|
| Trade shows | 2.1M professional visits (+3%), 73,686 exhibitors, 1.56M net sqm |
| Congresses | 1,357 average attendees (+8% vs 2023) |
| Fairs | 3.78M visits, net exhibition space +4% |
| Venues | 200 sites in France, 2.5M sqm capacity |
| Global impact | €368 billion in economic impact, 4.3M jobs |
An industry looking beyond economics
Beyond the figures, the 2025 Event Data Book highlights a broader social dimension: the role of events as a driver of social connection, at a time when 79% of French people say they distrust others and 71% of young people report feeling lonely. UNIMEV also ties this to its "5 senses" — business, sharing, innovation, transformation, celebration — marking the industry's 100th year.
Overall, the indicators confirm an industry in a consolidation phase after the post-Covid years, using the Olympic momentum to enter its second century with renewed ambitions around sustainability and inclusion.
Article written with the assistance of AI. Source: 2025 Event Data Book, UNIMEV