How to read a public document, and how each figure on this site is built, from the source to the page. Every explainer cites its sources and states what the figures do not allow one to conclude.
The latest published articles — all categories.
Across two fiscal years (2020 and 2021), €2.3 billion in grants paid by the Ville de Paris to 26,000 beneficiaries do not appear in the standard OpenData file, nor in a journalist's usual searches. The data existed — in a PDF annex of the Administrative Account. Methodical account of a few-hour reconstitution using pdftotext and a 250-line regex parser.
When the press reports that the Ville pays €X to Y, the word used to describe the flow is almost always imprecise. Three distinct legal regimes channel public money to local recipients — subsidies, service purchases, public procurement — each with its own rules, controls, and logic. A decoder.
As of 31 December 2024, the Ville de Paris had granted €12.28 billion in loan guarantees — an outstanding amount larger than its own financial debt (€10.7Bn). Concentrated 88% on social housing and 79% on the Caisse des Dépôts, this contingent commitment appears in no debt-reduction ratio. A reading of an off-balance-sheet aggregate rarely measured in public debate.
A municipality cannot borrow to pay its salaries. This rule, codified in article L.1612-4 of the Code général des collectivités territoriales, is what radically separates a municipal budget from the State's. Anatomy of a short text and its consequences.
On 31 December 2024, the City of Paris booked €48 billion of total assets, of which €47Bn in tangible fixed assets. This figure is computed at amortised historical cost — market value would be considerably higher. Explanation of a structural gap, and what it means when reading the accounts.
