Pesticide victims' compensation fund receives more than 1,000 claims in 2025, up 6.8%

France's pesticide compensation fund crossed a threshold in 2025 that carries more weight than a round number alone: it received more than 1,000 claims for the first time and had to draw on its reserves to pay victims.

The FIVP received 1,044 applications, a 6.8% increase from the previous year. Most applicants had been exposed through their work. Twenty claims concerned children exposed during the prenatal period. Men accounted for 92.5% of applicants, and the share of retirees continued to rise.

The applicants mainly worked or had worked on mixed crop and livestock farms, which accounted for 30% of claims. Cereal, legume and industrial crops represented 13.4%, while viticulture accounted for 12.6%. The report also identified a north-south divide, with more claims from northern areas, particularly Armorique in western Brittany, Maine-et-Loire and Burgundy. Prostate cancer remained the most common condition cited.

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Recognition of illnesses caused by pesticides is progressing.

The number of claims has risen sharply since the fund began operating fully in 2021. It received more than 300 that year, about 700 in 2023 and 978 in 2024 after a 44% increase. FIVP management board president Laurent Habert said recognition of pesticide-related illnesses was advancing after Parkinson's disease and malignant blood disorders were added to the conditions considered.

Habert also said regional application rates remained uneven and that more could be done to inform potential claimants. Non-governmental organizations have repeatedly criticized the fund's lack of visibility. The agricultural social-insurance body MSA manages the fund, but public communication is outside its remit. Benefits paid for pesticide-related harm reached 25.9 million euros in 2025, 35.5% more than in 2024, even as the fund's income fell.

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It is still possible to provide better information and make the fund better known. Application rates by region remain uneven, without any obvious explanation.