Big-money moves for Memphis Depay, Julian Draxler and Dimitri Payet combined to take spending by French clubs to a record £150 million in the January transfer window.
According to a FIFA Transfer Matching System study of cross-border deals this winter, Europe's big five leagues accounted for two thirds of the global spend of £683.4m on international moves in January, with France leading the way and England second.
Of more than 3,000 international transfers, involving 161 countries, only one in seven involved a transfer fee.
French clubs, however, shelled out more in January than they spent last summer, with Paris Saint-Germain investing £56m in signing Draxler and Goncalo Guedes from Wolfsburg and Benfica respectively.
Payet's contentious move from West Ham to Marseille and Depay's exit from Manchester United to Lyon added another £36m to the French total and also helped English clubs bring in almost £134m, virtually offsetting the £135m spent on deals including Wilfred Ndidi's switch from Genk to Leicester and Manolo Gabbiadini joining Southampton from Napoli.
English clubs did make more transfers -- 146 in and 151 out -- than their rivals abroad, although Spanish sides signed 127 players from abroad, while sending only 65 across the border.
German clubs spent the third highest total in January, with Spain fourth and Italy fifth, with Italian clubs recording a net profit of £38.5m.
The data only deals with cross-border transfers, with England remaining the biggest-spending nation in the window when domestic transfers were included.