NUTS-3 FRL02 · France
Population
145,0912025
GDP
€5,067M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
7.3%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
74.4%2025
Active firms
55,8382026
Cadastral parcels
846,4512026
Area
5,689.4 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
FRL02 · FRL01
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Hautes-Alpes (Opportunity 46). Runner-up: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (45). Contrarian pick: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence — leads the set on Air quality (EU pctl 88).
Strengths
Energy cost (88) · Talent & skills (76)
Red flags
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Energy cost (88) · Air quality (88)
Red flags
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Hautes-Alpes
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Industrial base (EU pctl 3) — Alpes-de-Haute-Provence may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Hautes-Alpes · Manufacturing → Hautes-Alpes · Office → Hautes-Alpes · Residential → Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
Phase-2 diligence checklist
- Site-level grid connection capacity and power pricing (beyond country-grain energy data)
- Local incentives, tax regimes and permitting timelines
- Workforce depth for your specific roles (the talent pillar is a proxy)
- Real-estate availability, rents and land — public pan-EU data stops at the Nordics
This is a mandate-neutral read. To weight the pillars to your thesis, run these regions through the Site Screener — it ranks all 1,211 regions under your weights and exports the full PDF. First-pass macro screening, not investment advice.
Composite intelligence · 0–100 EU-percentile scores
Opportunity Indexscale + growth + access + structure
46.3
45.3
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
54.3
61.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
54.6
58.7
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
28.3
87.7
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
51.0
45.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
75.8
75.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
53.4
48.6
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
1.6% 5y
1.7% 5y
Population
0.6% 5y
0.5% 5y
Unemployment rate
2.1% 5y
2.1% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€34,922
€31,919
Population density
26 /km²
24 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
5,834
3,567
Firms per 1k pop
385
312
All indicators · 89 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,515M
€4,828M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€90M
€92M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€262M
€546M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€146M
€413M
GVA — construction (F)
€397M
€312M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€922M
€775M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€25,900
€25,900
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
32,900 PPS
29,600 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€35,700
€32,100
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€49,335M
€49,335M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€3,075M
€3,075M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€105,791M
€105,791M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,059M
€1,099M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€42M
€27M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,392M
€1,678M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,451M
€1,426M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,526M
€4,834M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€78,600
€79,831
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,166M
€1,245M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
65,700
69,100
Self-employed persons
12,700
12,200
Employment in manufacturing (C)
2,500
5,200
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
73.4%
73.4%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
22.6%
22.6%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
7.3%
7.2%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
61,300
70,600
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
17,825
16,057
Enterprise births
1,819
1,953
Enterprise deaths
1,674
1,594
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.2%
5.3%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
2.1%
2.1%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.4%
4.4%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.6%
1.6%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
42.5%
42.5%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
52.3%
52.3%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
13.2%
13.2%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
29.8%
29.8%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.7%
9.7%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
94.1%
94.1%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
4,621,377
3,974,493
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
593 /1k
593 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
2,499 kt
2,124 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,138
1,210
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
24 km/1000km²
24 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
1,474
714
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
118
100
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
0
0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
83,569
96,165
Population aged 65+
40,221
47,907
Population aged under 15
21,301
25,491
Median age of population
48.9 yrs
49.8 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
48.1%
49.8%
Crude rate of total population change
5.7 /1k
4.3 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.4 /1k
8.8 /1k
Crude birth rate
7.8 /1k
7.5 /1k
Crude death rate
10.5 /1k
12.0 /1k
Live births
1,122
1,276
Deaths
1,517
2,032
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
73.6%
76.3%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.58
1.60
Population density (persons per km²)
26 /km²
24 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
127,184
157,085
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
20.7%
20.7%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
83.8 yrs
83.8 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
16.1%
16.1%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
625 /100k
625 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
851 /100k
851 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
202 /100k
202 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.6 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
32.6 /100k
27.3 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
345 /100k
425 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,309 /100k
1,300 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
56 /M
56 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.46
1.46
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.27
1.27
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.02
1.02
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.39
1.39
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.02
0.02
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.107/kWh
€0.107/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.053/kWh
€0.053/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
2,778 m
1,194 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
5 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
265 days/yr
122 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
16 days/yr
10 days/yr