information You want to register a .fr (France) ? Rules and statistics

[proer]

What is .FR ?

.FR is the cctld for France.​

How many .FR domain names are registered ?

Reaching 3,000,0000 .FR​

Who can register .FR ?

According to the registry AFNIC,
"- Individuals resident in the territory of the European Union"
"- Entities having their registered or main office on the territory of a Member of the European Union""​

I am from US, from China..., so how could I register a .FR ?

if you have no office in Europe, you have to use a trustee service from some registrars, so yes it is possible.
For example, Godaddy offers this service, but many others do it too.
Now it seems that .fr is being registered more and more by foreign countries.​

But then, why do we see other registrant countries in some whois ?
Yes, some .fr registrants are from US, China... (see list below)
If they have an office in Europe, they are allowed, even if the main office is in US or China. Maybe this is the reason.

Statistics : TOP 60 countries registering .fr domain names :

Country code | Number of .fr domain names

FR 2,768,063
(France. Note : this number includes some FR registrants that are in fact trustee services to reg .fr domain names. Many US domainers use this way to register .fr domain names)
DE 51,678 (Germany)
GB 33,947 (UK)
NL 25,158 (Nederland)
BE 24,437 (Belgium)
CH 11,627 (Switzerland))
ES 7,881 (Spain)
LU 7,841 (Luxembourg)
IT 6,683 (Italia)
PL 4,672 (Poland)
RE 4,590 (Reunion island)
US 2,946 (United States) <===
SE 2,878 (Sweden)
CZ 2,797
CY 2,644
GP 2,543
MT 2,395
MQ 2,347
DK 2,186
AU 1,997 (Australia)
AT 1,859
NO 1,539
IE 1,112
PT 859
RO 845
CN 788 (China)
NZ 694
GF 664
LV 661
GR 553
MX 548
LT 471
FI 462
MC 370
SK 367
HU 342
BG 295
PF 245
CA 234
GI 220
HK 208
MA 171
YT 162
EE 152
SI 150
NC 139
TN 131
AF 123
UK 111
HR 67
LI 66
TH 66
JP 59
RU 47
BR 45
AD 43
IN 43
IS 43
IL 34
MU 28

 

[centreurope]

Thanks !

 

[Michael R.]

Interesting, thanks.

 

[DNScholar]

Is there any fees if we want to use registrar "trustee service".

 

[proer]

Is there any fees if we want to use registrar "trustee service".

I have checked a few registrars :

www.gandi.net
.fr reg : 12€/year (about $14)
Trustee service : "These contacts are provided free of charge by Gandi whenever possible." source :https://www.gandi.net/corporate/services/domain?lang=en
(the only one I found that "could" be free).

www.netim.com :
.fr reg : 12€ (about $14) (6€ until 06/30/2016)
Trustee service : 25€/year http://www.netim.com/domain-name/fr-domain.html#SERVICES

www.hexonet.net
.fr reg : $11.19
Trustee service : (price not found, may be interesting to ask) : https://www.hexonet.net/domain-services/trustee-registration

www.francedns.co :
.fr reg : 6€ (about 7$)
Trustee service : (price not found, may be interesting to ask) http://www.francedns.co/domain/trustee-and-local-contact.html

www.godaddy.com :
allows only transfer out, not in. then you can only register available .fr : https://www.godaddy.com/help/about-fr-domain-names-5754
.fr reg : 19.99$a
trustee service : 29.99$/year https://www.godaddy.com/help/about-fr-domain-names-5754

www.101domain.com :
.fr reg : 19.95$
trustee service : 22$/year https://www.101domain.com/fr.htm

They are other ones of course, I may complete this post later.

 

[DNScholar]

I have checked a few registrars :

www.gandi.net
.fr reg : 12$/year (about $14)
Trustee service : "These contacts are provided free of charge by Gandi whenever possible." source :https://www.gandi.net/corporate/services/domain?lang=en
(the only one I found that "could" be free).

www.netim.com :
.fr reg : 12€ (about $14) (6€ until 06/30/2016)
Trustee service : 25€/year http://www.netim.com/domain-name/fr-domain.html#SERVICES

www.hexonet.net
.fr reg : $11.19
Trustee service : (price not found, may be interesting to ask) : https://www.hexonet.net/domain-services/trustee-registration

www.francedns.co :
.fr reg : 6€ (about 7$)
Trustee service : (price not found, may be interesting to ask) http://www.francedns.co/domain/trustee-and-local-contact.html

www.godaddy.com :
allows only transfer out, not in. then you can only register available .fr : https://www.godaddy.com/help/about-fr-domain-names-5754
.fr reg : 19.99$a
trustee service : 29.99$/year https://www.godaddy.com/help/about-fr-domain-names-5754

www.101domain.com :
.fr reg : 19.95$
trustee service : 22$/year https://www.101domain.com/fr.htm

They are other ones of course, I may complete this post later.

Detailed answer, Thank you.