More than one million new retail investors have entered equity markets in France over the last 3 years, according to the AMF's dashboard

In 2021, some 1.6 million individuals placed at least one order to buy or sell shares, a 19% increase compared with 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2021, 743,000 people carried out at least one transaction on shares, in line with previous quarters, with the exception of the second quarter, when volumes were boosted by a public offer. 

Among these active investors, 217,000 had never placed a stock market order before or had been inactive since January 2018. The flow of new investors remained steady but seems to have levelled off at around 50,000 per quarter.

In three years, the AMF has recorded a little over 1.1 million new retail investors on equity markets.

The number of retail transactions on equities carried out by individuals was almost 13 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and over 55 million for the year as a whole, close to the exceptionally high levels achieved the previous year. These annual volumes are more than double the volumes observed in 2018 and 2019.

The scope of the active retail investor dashboard covers transactions on financial instruments listed in the European Union by clients of French-based investment services providers or branches of European investment services providers. It is not the same as the one used in the study published on 30 November, which covered transactions by French and foreign retail investors in securities under the AMF's jurisdiction.

About the AMF

The AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information. The AMF also supervises the orderly operations of markets. Visit our website https://www.amf-france.org