Paris, Aug 11 (IANS): Every 40 minutes in France, an act of sexual assault or rape is reported to police, new figures revealed on Tuesday.

According to the figures issued by French crime observatory, ONDRP, there were 12,700 sexual assaults reported in France in 2014 -- a leap of 18 percent since a similar survey in 2010, The Local news portal reported citing state-run Le Figaro daily.

Reports of sexual assault against minors have also risen over 20 percent (from 5,751 to 6,936) in the same period.

According to the observatory, in Paris alone, there were a total of 600 reported sexual assaults and rapes last year. Other areas of the country that had high numbers of sexual assault reports included Sarthe, Yonne, Orne and Loiret - all in central France.

This meant there were 33 sexual assaults reported in France each day.

Christophe Soullez, director of ONDRP, said that these figures represented nothing more than the "tip of the iceberg".

"This is a considerable grey zone," he said, adding "These reports represent only around 10 percent of the total rapes."