France Company Lookup: A Register That Counts Its Gaps

A France company lookup runs through two authorities that hold different things. L'INPI keeps the Registre National des Entreprises (RNE); l'INSEE keeps the répertoire Sirene. The Annuaire des Entreprises at annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr is the state's public front end over both, and data.inpi.fr is where RNE documents and acts live. This guide covers what each holds, what the state publishes about what is missing from them, and the layer you cannot reach. If you need the French population rather than one company at a time, the France company directory covers the same registered businesses with industry, size and contact breakdowns attached, and the France business database is the same file described as a dataset.

France company lookup: the short version

• Two registers, two keepers: the RNE at l'INPI and the répertoire Sirene at l'INSEE, with the Annuaire des Entreprises as the state's public front end over both.
• Some businesses in the RNE have asked Sirene not to appear in diffusion totale. INSEE puts the number at more than a million establishments (INSEE, 2025 figure), essentially sole traders.
• The protection is not the same for everyone. A legal person loses geolocation and street address but keeps the commune. A natural person loses those and name, first name and pseudonym.
• There is a second layer you cannot reach: API Entreprise is reserved to administrations and needs a high level of clearance, and its data appears on the Annuaire only to public officials.

A register that counts what it does not show

Most registers in this series describe what they contain. France is the only one that publishes a measurement of what it does not show — and it is not a small number.

"Parmi les entreprises présentes dans le RNE, certaines, très majoritairement des personnes physiques, ont demandé auprès du répertoire Sirene de ne pas figurer en diffusion totale, afin de ne pas rendre publiques leurs données d'identification et de localisation. L'Insee évalue leur nombre à plus d'un million d'établissements (chiffre 2025), essentiellement des entreprises individuelles."

Among the businesses present in the RNE, some — very largely natural persons — have asked the Sirene répertoire not to appear in diffusion totale, so as not to make their identification and location data public. INSEE puts their number at more than a million establishments (2025 figure), essentially sole traders.

That figure is INSEE's own, it carries its year, and it is stated by the state about the state's own register. It appears here for the same reason it appears there: it is not a footnote to the finding, it is the finding.

This is not a data-quality problem and this page will not call it one. It is a right, exercised. The passage names it: "Ce droit d'opposition tel que décrit à l'Article 21 du RGPD" — the right to object under Article 21 GDPR. A French sole trader who does not want their home address and name published has a lawful route to that outcome, has taken it, and the state counts them and says so. A register that publishes the size of its own opt-out is being more transparent than one that does not, not less.

The asymmetry is what makes it usable

The same passage sets out something more immediately practical than the count, and it is the part a reader matching French records actually needs:

"Ce droit d'opposition tel que décrit à l'Article 21 du RGPD est valable pour les personnes physiques et morales mais s'applique de façon différente : pour les personnes morales, seuls les éléments de localisation sont protégés (géolocalisation, numéro et voie de l'adresse postale - la commune reste diffusible) ; pour les personnes physiques, les éléments de localisation précédents sont protégés, ainsi que les éléments d'identification (nom, prénom, pseudonyme)."

The right applies to both legal and natural persons, but differently:

• Legal persons — only the location elements are protected: geolocation, and the number and street of the postal address. The commune remains diffusible.
• Natural persons — those same location elements are protected, and the identification elements: name, first name, pseudonym.

So a partially diffused French record is not uniformly blank, and which fields are missing tells you which kind of person you are looking at. A company with a commune but no street address has exercised the right as a legal person. A record missing the name as well is a natural person. The absence has a shape, and the shape is legible.

Two consequences follow for anyone reconciling French data, and neither is a complaint. A match rule that requires a street address will fail on a population measured in the hundreds of thousands, by right rather than by error. And a name-matching rule applied to sole traders is being applied to the exact population most likely to have removed the name.

One thing to keep straight: the RNE covers all businesses registered in it, including those in diffusion partielle. The opposition governs what is published, not what is registered.

The layer you cannot reach

France runs a public register and a parallel restricted layer over the same companies, and it publishes the fact.

"API Entreprise permet aux services publics (administrations centrales, collectivités, services déconcentrés etc.) d'échanger entre eux les données restreintes des entreprises françaises. Par définition elle est réservée aux administrations et nécessite un haut niveau d'habilitation. Ses données sont accessibles sur l'Annuaire des Entreprises, uniquement aux agents publics."

API Entreprise lets public services exchange restricted data on French businesses. By definition it is reserved to administrations and requires a high level of clearance. Its data is accessible on the Annuaire des Entreprises only to public officials.

Read that beside the previous section and the two fit together. One population has withdrawn its details from public diffusion; a separate channel carries restricted data to administrations. The same Annuaire page can show one thing to a member of the public and another to an agent public.

The Netherlands company lookup guide covers the other register in this series that publishes a two-tier model of its own. KVK states that a telephone number in the Handelsregister is not a public detail and that "Alleen organisaties die toestemming hebben, zoals de Belastingdienst of notarissen, kunnen je telefoonnummer zien" — only organisations with permission, such as the tax authority or notaries, can see it. The Dutch answer hides a field inside a public record; the French answer runs a separate pipe with its own clearance. Two states, two published two-tier models, and neither is a better design than the other — they are different places to put the same boundary.

Two ordinary APIs reach the two main databases: l'API Sirene de l'INSEE for the répertoire Sirene, and l'API RNE de l'INPI for the Registre National des Entreprises.

What a French company register entry contains

A self-contained summary. France's business data sits in two registers held by two authorities: the Registre National des Entreprises (RNE), kept by l'INPI, and the répertoire Sirene, kept by l'INSEE. The Annuaire des Entreprises at annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr is the state's public front end over both, and Data INPI is the INPI search engine, finding the legal, technical, commercial and financial information contained in industrial property titles and in the RNE. Any business carrying on a commercial, artisanal, agricultural or independent activity is registered in the RNE, which since 1 January 2023 replaces the registre du commerce et des sociétés (RCS), the répertoire des métiers (RM) and the registre des actifs agricoles (RAA), succeeding the RNCS; the data is updated daily. The RNE covers all businesses registered in it, including those in diffusion partielle. Some businesses, very largely natural persons, have asked the répertoire Sirene not to appear in diffusion totale so as not to make their identification and location data public; INSEE puts their number at more than a million establishments, a 2025 figure, essentially sole traders. This right to object, as described in Article 21 GDPR, applies to both natural and legal persons but differently: for legal persons only the location elements are protected — geolocation, and the number and street of the postal address, with the commune remaining diffusible — while for natural persons those location elements are protected together with the identification elements of name, first name and pseudonym. Two APIs reach the two main databases: l'API Sirene de l'INSEE and l'API RNE de l'INPI. Separately, API Entreprise allows public services to exchange restricted data on French businesses; it is reserved to administrations, requires a high level of clearance, and its data is accessible on the Annuaire des Entreprises only to public officials. The RNE dataset covers entries relating to creations, modifications and cessations of agricultural, artisanal, commercial and liberal businesses filed with the INPI; the stock of active legal and natural person files; flow data; the non-confidential data entered from annual accounts filed since 1 January 2017; and the acts and articles of association of legal and natural persons since 1993. The law against public-aid fraud of 30 June 2025 introduced an administrative penalty against businesses not registered in the RNE.

Three registers became one

A reader following an older guide is hunting a register that no longer exists under that name.

From 1 January 2023 the data format changed with the introduction of the Registre National des Entreprises, which succeeds the RNCS. The RNE replaces the registre du commerce et des sociétés (RCS), the répertoire des métiers (RM) and the registre des actifs agricoles (RAA). Any business carrying on a commercial, artisanal, agricultural or independent activity is registered in it, and the data is updated daily.

Registration is not optional, and there is now a consequence attached: the law against public-aid fraud of 30 June 2025 introduced an administrative penalty against businesses not registered in the RNE. The amount is not reproduced here — the law and its date are the durable facts, and a figure without its own sourced row has no business in this prose.

Where a France lookup stops

The RNE dataset has a published scope, and knowing its edges saves a wasted search. It covers entries relating to creations, modifications and cessations of agricultural, artisanal, commercial and liberal businesses filed with the INPI; the stock of active legal and natural person files; flow data; the non-confidential data entered from annual accounts filed since 1 January 2017; and the acts and articles of association since 1993.

Three limits are worth stating plainly from that. Annual-accounts data in the set is the non-confidential part, not everything filed. Accounts data begins in 2017 and acts begin in 1993, so a question about an earlier period is not one this dataset answers. And the opposition regime above cuts across all of it: the dataset's scope describes what is collected, while diffusion describes what is published, and they are not the same boundary.

Where the question is a population rather than a company, a firmographic directory covers the same registered businesses with classification, size and contact data attached and queryable as a set; the Europe company directory breaks the European file down by market.

Data quality pitfalls to avoid in France

Treating a missing street address as a bad record. More than a million establishments have exercised a right under Article 21 GDPR not to appear in diffusion totale, and INSEE publishes the count. The absence is lawful and intended.

Applying one match rule to legal and natural persons. Legal persons lose geolocation and the street address but keep the commune; natural persons lose the name, first name and pseudonym as well. A rule that works on one will misfire on the other.

Name-matching French sole traders. Entreprises individuelles are the population the opposition overwhelmingly comes from, and the name is exactly what a natural person's opposition protects.

Assuming a business absent from public diffusion is absent from the register. The RNE covers all businesses registered in it, including those in diffusion partielle.

Looking for the RCS, the RM or the RAA. Since 1 January 2023 the RNE replaces all three, and it succeeds the RNCS.

Reading the annual-accounts data as complete. The dataset carries the non-confidential data entered from accounts filed since 1 January 2017, which is neither all accounts nor all of any account.

Expecting API Entreprise to be available to you. It is reserved to administrations, requires a high level of clearance, and surfaces on the Annuaire only to public officials.

A repeatable France company lookup workflow

1. Search the Annuaire des Entreprises first, and go to data.inpi.fr when you need the RNE documents and acts.
2. Record whether the subject is a personne morale or a personne physique before deciding which fields you can expect.
3. Treat an absent street address as opposition until something else explains it.
4. Never key a French match on name alone where sole traders are in scope.
5. Use l'API Sirene for Sirene and l'API RNE for the RNE, rather than expecting one to answer for the other.
6. Check the period before searching accounts or acts: accounts data starts in 2017, acts in 1993.

Frequently asked questions

Which register holds French company data?

Two do. L'INPI keeps the Registre National des Entreprises and l'INSEE keeps the répertoire Sirene. The Annuaire des Entreprises is the state's public front end over both.

Why is a French company's address missing?

Probably because the business asked the répertoire Sirene not to appear in diffusion totale, exercising the right to object described in Article 21 GDPR. INSEE puts the number at more than a million establishments, a 2025 figure, essentially sole traders.

Does the protection work the same for companies and individuals?

No. For legal persons only the location elements are protected — geolocation and the number and street of the postal address — and the commune remains diffusible. For natural persons those are protected together with name, first name and pseudonym.

Are non-diffused businesses still registered?

Yes. The RNE covers all businesses registered in it, including those in diffusion partielle. Opposition governs publication, not registration.

What happened to the RCS?

Since 1 January 2023 the Registre National des Entreprises replaces the registre du commerce et des sociétés, the répertoire des métiers and the registre des actifs agricoles, and succeeds the RNCS.

Can I use API Entreprise?

Only if you are an administration. It is reserved to public services, requires a high level of clearance, and its data appears on the Annuaire des Entreprises only to public officials.

How far back does the RNE dataset go?

Non-confidential data entered from annual accounts filed since 1 January 2017, and acts and articles of association since 1993.

Is registration in the RNE compulsory?

Any business carrying on a commercial, artisanal, agricultural or independent activity must be registered in it, and the law against public-aid fraud of 30 June 2025 introduced an administrative penalty against businesses that are not.

Source Register

Every French sentence quoted above is the publisher's own wording, read on the date shown, with an English gloss beside it rather than in place of it. One number appears in this page's prose and only one: INSEE's count of more than a million establishments, attributed to INSEE with its 2025 year, because it is a state measurement of the state's own register and it is the finding rather than a detail of it. No fee, price or penalty amount appears anywhere — the administrative penalty introduced by the law of 30 June 2025 is named by its law and its date, and the figure is omitted.

The readings that are InfobelPRO's rather than the state's: that the shape of an absence is legible, so that a record with a commune but no street address indicates a legal person's opposition while a record also missing the name indicates a natural person's; that a match rule requiring a street address will fail on a large population by right rather than by error; and that a name-matching rule applied to sole traders is being applied to the population most likely to have removed the name. Those are ours. The count, the asymmetry and the legal basis are the state's, quoted. Nothing here is offered as criticism of the opposition regime, which is a right exercised under Article 21 GDPR and published, with its size, by the authority that administers it.