The Autorité des Marchés Financiers has released an updatedversion of its active stock market investor dashboard, showing recordparticipation by private individuals in 2025. The dashboard uses data providedby European financial service providers.SingaporeSummit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).Cross-Border Trades Drive Market GrowthNearly 2.5 million French residents executed at least onestock market transaction in 2025, the highest annual total since 2020. Ofthese, just over 1.9 million bought or sold shares, marking a 21% increase from1.5 million in 2024. Over the 2021-2025 period, more than 3.8 million retailinvestors participated in equity markets. Over the past three years, a total of around 1.6 million newinvestors entered the French stock market.Retail investors carried out a total of 56 million equitytransactions in 2025, up from 41 million in 2024. A growing share of thesetrades involved institutions based in European Union countries outside France,rising to 26% in 2025 from 18% the previous year. These cross-border tradesaccounted for 15% of the total equity amounts traded.ETF Activity SurgesTransactions in exchange-traded funds also grew sharply.More than 1.1 million French investors executed at least one ETF transaction in2025, up 83% from 607,000 in 2024. Over the past five years, the number of ETFinvestors increased nearly fivefold, from 223,000 in 2020.The AMF recorded 14.4 million ETF transactions in 2025, morethan double the 6 million recorded in 2024. Nearly 47% of the trades were executed through EU-based institutions outside France, up from 23% in2024. These cross-border ETF transactions represented 20% of the total amountstraded in ETFs.New and Younger InvestorsThe French stock market saw 1.6 million new investors overthe past three years. In 2025, 780,000 individuals entered the market for thefirst time since 2018, compared with 516,000 in 2024 and 329,000 in 2023.For both equities and ETFs, most new investors used EU-basedinstitutions outside France. In 2025, 61% of new equity investors and 49% ofnew ETF investors traded through these providers. They accounted for 14% of theamounts invested in equities and 24% of amounts invested in ETFs by newinvestors.The AMF also noted a decrease in the average age ofinvestors. Equity investors’ average age fell from 51 in the last quarter of2024 to 48 in the same quarter of 2025. ETF investors’ average age declinedfrom 41 to 38.Expanded Dashboard ScopeThe updated dashboard now includes French investors usinginvestment service providers based elsewhere in the EU to trade instrumentsunder AMF jurisdiction on French markets. It separates retail investors intotwo categories: those trading with French-based service providers, and thosetrading AMF-jurisdiction instruments with EU-based providers outside France.The AMF said the enhancements aim to provide a more completepicture of retail investor activity across domestic and cross-border markets.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.