The average earnings of a small business in France in 2013 was an impressive €41,000, but it is a figure that is inflated by the most successful professions.

Each year the association of small business centres in France - the Fédération des centres de gestion agréés (FCGA) - undertakes a review of the turnover and earnings of the around 200,000 sole trader businesses in the association.

The survey covers 75 commercial and trade professions in 11 sectors of activity and it is a report that attracts considerable interest in France.

A table giving the earnings of the main professions in the survey is shown below.

The top four in the table are dominated by health based professions, with the income of chemists far outstripping any other business activity. Around 20% of the businesses earn less than the minimum wage, and half less than €33K pa.

There are several large caveats that needed to be given to these figures, the most important of which is that the income figure shown is before deduction of social security contributions.

Accordingly, for many businesses, the actual take home figure will be at least a third smaller than is shown in the table, although those with very low earnings will be eligible for reduced social security contributions.

In addition, the survey only covers those businesses who arrange for their accounting to be carried out via a small business centre. Many business owners choose not to operate in this way, notably those with a small turnover, or who operate as a micro-entreprise, using the standard fixed allowance for costs.

So the figures are merely an indication the general level of financial performance of the various professions.

Over a two year period almost all sectors and professions showed a decline in performance, with the worst performing sectors being household electrical goods, beauty products, estate agents, printing and hotels, cafes and restaurants. Only taxis, fruit and vegetables, and industrial cleaning companies showed positive two year growth.