How much do you have to earn to be considered rich in France? According to a recent poll, it's as much €78,000 a year. The results of the wealth survey also contain a strong message for tax exile Gerard Depardieu.

• French government coy on new super tax (04 Feb 13)
• Ten tips for finding work in France (04 Feb 13)
• Most French believe France is ‘bankrupt’ (31 Jan 13)

An annual survey published in French financial weekly Les Echos on Thursday, found that, on average, the French placed the bar for being considered ‘rich’ at a monthly income of €6,499, the equivalent of around €78,000 a year.

Despite the continued financial crisis in 2012, this perceived standard of wealth has increased from 2011’s average of €6,308 (or close to €76,000 a year), according to the poll, which was conducted by Ifop last month.

Revealingly, 58 percent of respondents felt that it was still possible to ‘make a fortune’ in France, and 89 percent agreed that “the presence of wealthy people in France is useful for the whole of society.”

Only 19 percent said that they would leave France if they became rich in the near future.

The survey comes amid a backdrop of ongoing controversy over President François Hollande’s proposed ‘super-tax’ on those earning an income of €1 million or more.

The tax prompted the actor Gerard Depardieu to up sticks and move to Russia, amid much criticism in his native country. 

France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, has also stirred up fears that he to is headed for tax exile, by attempting to gain Belgian citizenship.