Yes, it is precisely the same in English and is applied to other situations. "I can count X on the fingers of one hand" or "the number of X can be counted on the fingers of one hand" is a colorful and emphatic way of speaking. It carries the idea "surprisingly few." "Probably the doctors of that type, in any large city, could be counted on the fingers of one hand." "we are dependent for the text of certain of [some classic Greek] authors on as many copies as may be counted on the fingers of one hand." "'Tut tut,' said the old lady; and told her that the women in the history of the world who had had real beauty could be counted on the fingers of one hand."

in french too, les vrais amis se comptent sur le bout des doigts

Amazing that expression and its true

Yes - we have the same expression except we say "on" not "with".