Abstract. Let Γ be a sub-semigroup of G = GL(d, R), d > 1. We assume that the action of Γ on R d is strongly irreducible and that Γ contains a proximal and expanding element. We describe contraction properties of the dynamics of Γ on R d at infinity. This amounts to the consideration of the action of Γ on some compact homogeneous spaces of G, which are extensions of the projective space P d−1 . In the case where Γ is a sub-semigroup of GL(d, R)∩M (d, Z) and Γ has the above properties, we deduce that the Γ-orbits on