#SAVINGS & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
The reported return on euro-denominated life insurance funds isn't what you actually receive: social levies take a cut every year, withdrawal or not.
Published on August 16, 2026 · to be rechecked on April 1, 2027
Every year, France's banking and insurance regulator (ACPR) publishes the average revaluation rate for euro-denominated funds, calculated from all insurers' prudential data. For 2025 it stands at 2.63%, net of management fees — the figure shown on the annual statement. France Assureurs publishes a very similar figure, 2.6%, for the third year in a row. But a euro fund also carries 17.2% in social security levies (CSG, CRDS, solidarity contribution), deducted every year on the interest “as it accrues,” whether or not you withdraw — unlike unit-linked funds, taxed only on withdrawal. Applied to the ACPR's 2.63%, they bring the return actually credited to the contract down to 2.18%.
So does withdrawing from my contract cost nothing extra?
Potentially yes: income tax is added on withdrawal, depending on the contract's age. The 17.2% social levies are already counted in the 2.18%.
In other words: the figure shown on your annual statement already isn't what the contract actually earned you: about a fifth of it is withdrawn before you even ask for a cent.
Three caveats, because they matter
- The ACPR's 2.63% rate is an estimate ahead of final consolidation; it can shift by a few hundredths.
- The average masks wide gaps: at the same insurer, some contracts show 2.2%, others 3% or more.
- Income tax only applies on withdrawal and depends on each individual: it isn't counted in this gap, which only reflects what's deducted for certain.
Why it still matters: on a euro fund, the return that matters isn't the published rate or a vague “after all that” — it's what's left once the 17.2% social levies are deducted. That figure doesn't appear in any ad.
For you
- On your latest annual statement, is the rate shown before or after social levies?
- Do you know how much your interest actually earned net, once the 17.2% is taken out?
Source: ACPR, average revaluation rate for euro-denominated funds 2025; France Assureurs, 2025 annual report; CSG-CRDS-solidarity levy, 17.2%.
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