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Economy, the French translation and interpreting market in figures

Home » Economy, the French translation and interpreting market in figures

2010 has come to an end and the accounts results for the translation and interpreting market has been taken from the publication of the account results of 2009 for all those involved.* The fist conclusion is without a doubt the most awaited one, the evolution and growth. 2009 was a year of economic turmoil around the world, and although the translation and interpreting market didn’t completely escape the regression, the future seems bright.

With an average drop of 7.29% in value between 2008 and 2009, the French translation and interpreting market experienced it’s first downfall since 2000. Although a drop was to be expected (+21% between 2004 and 2005, +14% between 2005 and 2006, +5% between 2007 and 2007, +2% between 2007 and 2008), a drop of this magnitude could not have been predicted. The market bought in a revenue of 200 million euros in 2009.
There has been vast change in the top 20, the French subsidiary of Datawords takes the coveted spot as market leader, which was held for some time by Lionbridge France and Lionbridge Technologies. Geographically, two regions of France remain at the top, the main translation market leaders are based in Paris and two companies from the PACA region made it into the top 20.
As with most economical sectors, many companies have been replaced in the top ten by more solid companies.
There has been a reduction in revenue for the majority of the companies in the list aside from the market leader. Amongst those who have made a strong progression is the translation agency Atenao. With the highest progression rate with an increase of 57% in revenue between 2008 and 2009 and an increase of 27% between 2009 and 2010 which ensured a total revenue of between 500,000€ and 1 million €.

The future of professional translation
Although revenue figures doubling within a year is probably behind us, the room for improvement is still there, as the industry shows it’s ability to move ahead and adapt. Competition has never been greater, and a serious translation agency must consider the way the market is going: automatic translation, collaborative translation, Google initiatives etc. What remains to be seen is whether the market can be stabilised, in order to benefit all of those involved within the translation and interpreting market.