Yeah, I think these stats are bs, some people are also debunking the taco bit.
According to Wikipedia, France is about 40% of the European market and I don’t think Japanese read much western comics, so I don’t think that’s what we talk about.
In my perception this French anomaly comes from two factors :
There was a French TV segment in the 90s called “club Dorothé” that imported a lot of Japanese animation, initially because it was cheaper that producing or importing other TV shows. This got a whole generation addicted to mangas and now it’s just part of culture.
There is an actual cultural proximity between France and Japan, the most obvious part being the obsession about food.