But if you look at Assurance Vie, 59% of households (22 millions people) have position in Assurance Vie (can be bonds or stocks or whatever - I have some commodities and derivatives in mine).
http://www.cnp.fr/Epargne/Magazine/art_1793.htm
There are about 7.5 millions PEA (plan d'epargne en action) in France, 59% of it is in index/managed fund (OPCVM) and 41% in direct stocks.
http://www.lemoneymag.fr/v4/fiche/s_Fiche_v4/0,5382,13303,00.html
I don't know how many people end up owning stock directly or indirectly in France.
Where did you get the US data from?
I guess in American lingo though, we probably would count that Assurance Vie holding as stock ownership--that is if it's like our ira's and 401k's. In these accounts you have a choice as to how much money to put in, (though there is a maximum), and you have choices as to how to invest the money. Choices may range from almost all choices (for example I own 10 stocks in individual companies and three mutual funds in an IRA), to some company plans where you could be limited to choosing between 5--10 mutual funds. So if Assurance Vie is like that, we would call that direct ownership.
